In a decision warning that workplaces are "on notice" to meet far higher standards of behaviour, the FWC has thrown out the unfair dismissal claim of a veteran Alcoa worker held to have groped a female colleague.
The HR manager of a dumpling chain fined $4 million over a "deceitful and unscrupulous" payroll scam has been hit with a $100,000 penalty for her role, after the Federal Court heard a big sanction might force her to sell her share of her home.
In what stands as a forensic analysis of disciplinary process failings, a judge in a near-300-page judgment has found that a construction giant took adverse action against a senior manager when it sacked him for allegedly intimidating property owners while partying during the 2020 bushfire recovery effort.
The FWC has found a worker ineligible for paid parental leave for her second child because she only returned to work for six and a half months before the second period of intended leave, rather than the 12 months that her enterprise agreement required.
A full Federal Court has clarified the extent to which employers must investigate alternative roles for workers caught up in restructures, finding that a mining company had an obligation to assess whether employees could replace already-engaged contractors before making them redundant.
The IEU is planning to apply for a supported bargaining authorisation covering up to 40 NSW community-based preschools by the end of the month, pushing for increases of at least 25% for teachers who are paid far less than they would receive if they worked in a school.
The FWC is considering whether to provide a "generous opportunity" for organisations with a broader interest to participate in two MEU "same job, same pay" test cases that aim to lift the pay of Programmed and Workpac labour hire mine workers.
In a decision sure to catch the eye of service providers using rostering apps to keep workers at arm's length, the FWC has found that a home care worker who signed two documents describing her as an independent contractor is in fact an employee capable of suing her employer for unlawful dismissal.
An employer supplying well workers for offshore gas operations in the Bass Strait was entitled to stand down most of them when Esso suspended their services during industrial action, but the FWC has made a preliminary finding that a small yet "significant" portion might have been unauthorised.
Former Qantas ground crew seeking compensation for their unlawful sacking in 2020 will have to wait at least two more months after parties presented the trial judge with competing views about the cohort's continuing employment prospects.
