Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has agreed to change the way the Closing Loopholes Bill regulates gig economy workers, including a requirement that the FWC set minimum standards that reflect their engagement as independent contractors, while the Senate has today passed single-issue IR Bills split-off from the legislation.
FWC President Adam Hatcher says there are early indications the tribunal's new powers are starting to influence bargaining behaviour, while he is also urging legal and HR practitioners to look into a recent case that "signposts a way to remedy gender undervaluation at the granular workplace level".
The FWC has castigated an employer for its "unconscionable" and "intimidatory" written notice suggesting that a casual duty manager committed theft and fraud when she failed to pay for a drink or offer an explanation for missing stock, while it has also lambasted its representative, Clubs NSW, for its "unprofessional" conduct in characterising her conduct as criminal.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a kitchen hand who turned up intoxicated in his own time to prepare for his next shift, but has berated the employer over its "failure to exercise basic decency" when leaving him to find his own way home.
The 12-day gap between a concreter's two-day "trial" and starting full-time work did not count as "continuous" employment, leaving him just shy of the statutory minimum necessary to challenge his dismissal, the FWC has found.
Australia’s largest family-owned office supplies company unfairly sacked an account manager when it claimed she repudiated her contract by refusing to get a COVID-19 jab, the FWC has found.
A new FWC presidential member whose father once headed the NSW IRC has paid tribute to the "courage" of care workers and domestic violence victims whose deeply personal stories helped drive substantial changes to pay rates and leave entitlements through the Commission.
A court has refused to grant a self-represented on-hire worker a second extension of time to pursue his "confusing" adverse action case, finding too many gaps in his explanation for a 10-week delay during which he badgered the FWC to arbitrate the matter and travelled overseas.
The FWC boasts a case clearance rate above 100% while dealing with legislative changes which amount to a "generational shift" in the administration of IR, according to the tribunal's annual report.
