In one of the last wages and entitlements cases pursued by the FWBC, a building subcontractor that used a labour-hire company to distance itself from it employment obligations has been fined $145,000 and ordered to backpay $150,000 to more than a dozen workers.
The AWU's Victorian branch received up to $25,000 a year from a Spotless Group subsidiary under a memorandum of understanding that meant cleaners were not paid penalty rates, the Heydon Royal Commission heard today.
A leading silk has told a gathering of major employers that the federal government should adopt the Harper competition review's recommendation to outlaw agreement clauses that limit employers' use of contractors and labour hire employees.
The Fair Work Commission has ruled that a casual conversion right in a company's enterprise agreement extends to labour hire employees and is a "permitted matter" under the Fair Work Act.
A full Federal Court has ruled that two housekeepers who were pushed onto Odco-style independent contractor arrangements continued to be employees after the purported conversion, but also found that their employer had not contravened the Fair Work Act's sham contracting provisions.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has found links between the former Victorian Coalition Government's budget cuts and public sector employment practices that could have breached the Fair Work Act.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has asked a Victorian Government agency to urgently review the way it engages workers, after an investigation revealed it might be "misclassifying" employees as independent contractors.
The Federal Court will examine the multi-level marketing operations of an international networking business after the Federal Circuit Court ruled that a sham contracting case launched by the FWO was complex and lengthy enough to go to a higher authority.
In a development that threatens the maritime unions' grip on crucial Western Australian ports, two separate companies are offering tugboat workers "partnership" agreements that fall outside traditional employment arrangements.
