In an important ruling on the definition of industrial action, the Federal Court has held that the provision of sensitive information to the media by employees is not "protected" under the Fair Work Act and might leave them vulnerable to breach of contract and coercion claims.
Another High Court case on the Fair Work Act's protections for employees engaged in union activity might not be far away, according to a leading IR academic, after the CFMEU's appeal against the Federal Court's BHP Coal "scab-sign" ruling was this morning rejected by a 3-2 majority.
A High Court majority has dismissed the CFMEU's appeal against the Federal Court's decision that BHP Coal did not take adverse action when it dismissed a union delegate when he waved an "anti-scab" sign on a union picket.
Two council workers who were sacked after visiting the same TAB during working hours have met markedly different fates, with one winning his job back and the other losing his unfair dismissal case.
Target has enough HR staff to not need legal representation; Data upload difficulties lead to time extension; Mental health provider given go-ahead to employ ATSI people only; Biggest ever electronic ballot gets go-ahead for DHS; and Former retail group head facing fraud charges.
A hotel management company that took unlawful adverse action when it stopped giving shifts to a casual bartender who complained of being underpaid has been ordered to pay $11,000 compensation, including a sum for distress, hurt, and humiliation.
The Fair Work Commission has rejected a second attempt by electricity distributor Essential Energy to move some managers and senior technical employees from an enterprise agreement to individual contracts, ruling that the "common understanding" of the agreement's coverage clause overrides its literal meaning.
The High Court will decide next Thursday whether BHP Coal took adverse action against a mineworker when it sacked him for holding up an anti-"scab" sign at a picket in Queensland's Bowen Basin in 2012.
Despite acknowledging the convention that it is a "brave or foolish" FWC member who refuses to follow a full bench ruling, a commissioner has done just that on the way to granting a union's application for a scope order for an agreement to cover workers at one of a building company's four sites.
The Fair Work Commission has held that a Victorian water authority made a "further claim" that contravened its enterprise agreement when it removed a policy providing for employees' personal use of its cars.
