South Australia's Weatherill Labor Government will continue to push for national laws regulating labour hire, even though the state this week passed its own laws.
In a decision signalling potential judicial pushback against so-called "sham" agreements, a Federal Court has quashed a two-year-old deal approved by three employees that now covers more than 1000 mining services workers, ruling that the employer made inadequate efforts to explain a document benchmarked against 11 different awards.
An "acquiescent" labour hire company should have sought more information from a host employer about its reasons for ending the placement of an on-hire worker, the FWC has ruled in finding her dismissal unfair.
Victoria will establish a specialist regulator under its plan to hold labour hire firms to tougher standards, confirming it will become the third state to legislate the industry in the absence of any action from the federal government.
A court has thrown out a labour hire worker's adverse action claim despite rejecting the respondent's argument that it lacked jurisdiction because the truck driver mistakenly identified her employer.
The National Farmers' Federation will argue the FWO has misconstrued the horticulture award's piecework provisions in a Federal Court case it believes has the potential to remove much of the incentive to work across the entire sector.
Queensland's IR Minister Grace Grace today vowed to "drive out (the) cheaters and rorters" in the labour hire industry with the introduction of legislation requiring companies to hold annually-renewable licences.
Victoria's Andrews Government says it will legislate for a state-based labour hire licensing scheme that might not be limited to the three sectors recommended by last year's labour hire inquiry, while it will push Canberra to establish a national scheme.
Queensland's Palaszczuk Labor Government will introduce legislation this month to mandate the licensing of labour hire companies from next year, setting the pace for other Labor states such as Victoria and South Australia.
