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.
Unions NSW has called for a code of practice on unpaid work while an advocacy body wants Australia to import the US test on whether unpaid internships are legal, in response to the NSW Government's moves to promote volunteering.
The FWO has launched a review into the hiring of overseas employees on 417 working holiday visas, including allegations that "unscrupulous operators" are exploiting the visa requirements to attract free labour.
Requiring employees to sit in a "slow moving car park queue" and travel up to two hours a day to and from a new work location does not count as reasonable alternative employment, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in a decision to award six workers redundancy pay.
In an unusual postscript to a notorious sham contracting case, an abattoir operator has relied on a Federal Court ruling that it had vigorously opposed to successfully argue that it was the employer of an injured worker, thus avoiding having to pay him more than $150,000 in common law damages.
The Department of Employment has referred to the corporate watchdog allegations that a textile company entered into “contrived arrangements” to avoid paying redundancy entitlements to 60 workers.
Higher superannuation contributions and federal minimum wage rates are - along with new federal senators taking their seats - among the changes due to take effect from Tuesday, July 1.
The Federal Circuit Court has imposed $313,500 in penalties on a company in the Roy Morgan Group for sham contracting, ruling the contraventions were deliberate and directed by senior management.
