Less stringent English standards, abolition of the former government's labour market testing and fast-track approval for large companies with good records are among the raft of changes to Australia's 457 visa program recommended by a panel established by the Coalition earlier this year.
The Federal Court has fined the HSU and three former Victorian officials a total of nearly $68,000 for financial governance irregularities, and, in a first under registered organisations legislation, ordered one of them to repay the union more than $26,000.
The Federal Circuit Court has awarded a long-distance bus driver $13,000 after rejecting his employer's argument that he was employed to work shifts rather than calendar days and therefore not entitled to a living away from home allowance.
The Abbott Government this morning introduced a Bill in the House of Representatives to cap redundancy payments under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme at a maximum of 16 weeks, describing the current benefits for employees of insolvent companies as "overly generous" and as creating a "moral hazard".
Family First Senator Bob Day has used his first speech to parliament to press his argument for allowing job seekers to opt out of the regulated IR system if it will help them get work.
A Federal Court full bench has overturned a lower court's interpretation of an employment contract, finding that it had wrongly taken account of the parties' conduct after it commenced.
The former secretary of the HSU Vic No 3 branch, Kathy Jackson, submitted a claim for $65,740 for solicitors’ fees when the actual amount the union was charged was only $1,122, the Heydon royal commission has heard.
A Federal Court full court has agreed to stay FWBC penalty action against the CFMEU and eight officials over the Grocon blockades on the basis that the same conduct has already led to criminal proceedings, but has allowed the watchdog's unlawful coercion case to continue.
In a wide-ranging judgment on federal right of entry laws, a senior FWC member has ruled that parties need to pay more than "lip service" to the requirement to agree on meeting rooms for union discussions with workers, and has warned a CFMEU employee that he needs to take "stock of his conduct".
The Federal Court has relied on a 25-year "common understanding" in the transport industry in preference to the literal wording of an award in rejecting a TWU claim for Linfox day workers to be paid crib time.
