The FWC has used new legislation permitting it to overlook minor technical or procedural errors in agreements to endorse an enterprise deal with a bargaining notice that failed to comply with the Act's pre-approval requirements.
Labor has pledged to immediately increase the minimum wage for skilled overseas visa workers to $65,000 - a rise of almost 21% - if it wins the Federal election
James Cook University is fighting back against a Federal Circuit Court finding that it unlawfully sacked an academic who criticised prominent climate research, while the NTEU has welcomed a finding that the institution's code of conduct is "subordinate" to an intellectual freedom clause in its agreement.
A full Federal Court has upheld a finding that agreement-sanctioned union stopwork meetings can be freely used to delay and disrupt business as part of a campaign strategy, but has increased fines for the CFMMEU's coercion of head contractor Hutchison by almost 30%.
A Tasmanian wood mill operator that stood down its workforce after this year's bushfires has established that even though its agreement requires workers to be paid for time lost due to such natural events, it does not have to pay them if it is because of bushfire-damaged machinery.
A large pharmaceutical company is obliged to convert labour hire workers to permanent positions after a year's continuous employment, the FWC ruling that the relevant agreement clause was a permitted matter because it promoted job security.
FWC President Iain Ross's delegate has refused to refer to the Federal Court IR Minister Kelly O'Dwyer's "revolutionary" question of law as to whether the Fair Work Act allows indirectly discriminatory terms in agreements, while also flagging potential hurdles to her quest for a review of a new fire brigade deal.
After winning an interlocutory injunction reversing her suspension from Melbourne University, the head of its culture and communication school is challenging her employer's claim that legal advice received before appointing an investigator to probe possible misconduct is privileged.
The FWC has halted the dismissal of an air traffic controller who in the space of two months assigned the wrong runway and "lost" separation of aircraft at Sydney Airport, finding that "questions of fact" around the employer's obligation to manage his performance needed to first be settled.
RAFFWU is challenging the approval of a Kmart deal that won overwhelming endorsement from workers, claiming a refusal to provide an opt-out of the retail industry superannuation fund and 1c above-award pay rates will mean it fails the better off overall test.
