Australia's two largest employer groups have rejected the Morrison Government's in-principle commitment to introduce criminal offences for the worst cases of underpayment.
Victorian Attorney-General and workplace safety minister Jill Hennessy says that new legislation to create a criminal offence of industrial manslaughter could extend to some workplace-linked suicides and to diseases such as silicosis.
In a decision that potentially moves the dial on how much the 21-day deadline for unfair dismissal claims can be stretched, the FWC has in discerning no practical consequences granted an extension to a worker who lodged their form 29 minutes after midnight on a Friday.
A peak employer body has lost a lengthy battle to reclaim millions of dollars in payroll tax on the basis of its charity status, a court finding the network's model "primarily focused on serving the self-interest of its members" rather than promoting a stronger economy for everyone.
A large employer's decision to excise union references from its representational rights notice has scuppered its proposed agreement, the FWC observing that employees were effectively being "herded" towards two colleagues who had negotiated the previous deal.
A company "motivated by malice" when it forged documents to cut the leave balance of a chief operating officer it perceived as "a thorn in its side" has been ordered to pay $250,000 in penalties and unpaid entitlements.
The Federal Court has closed a loophole under which union organisers maintained they could enter sites to discuss safety issues under state OHS laws without showing their federal entry permits.
A shipping company facing multiple challenges to alleged redundancies is seeking to quash an FWC full bench finding that a model consultation term does not override obligations under its agreement.
Now that the Morrison Government has decided to extend the maximum terms of greenfields agreements for major projects, employers say the principle should apply more widely to non-greenfields agreements covering subcontractors on such jobs.
An FWC full bench has rejected IR Minister Christian Porter's bid to review an already-approved agreement on the basis that it contains discriminatory terms, while it has allowed changes "entirely disposing" of any lingering ambiguities.