Rotary International's "egregious" dismissal of a Sydney-based manager who initiated an adverse action claim has earned it a $50,000 fine from a judge who singled out the organisation's US-based No.2 for her role in a breach that "struck at the heart" of Australian workplace laws.
An FWC full bench has allowed a casual worker to claim unfair dismissal after finding a senior tribunal member wrongly focussed on her irregular "pattern" of days and hours in holding she had not met the minimum employment period.
The law firm behind a Crown class action says legislative change is needed after a full Federal Court quashed a decision that voided former employees' confidentiality obligations in order to aid the efficient administration of justice.
Employers are urging the Morrison Government to let greenfields and non-greenfields deals span the full life of major projects, without requiring them to reflect prevailing industry conditions, while legal experts say project owners and developers should be able to make them.
Fining host employers for hiring workers from unregistered operators is among a list of "guiding principles" IR Minister Christian Porter has put before state and territory counterparts as part of a proposed single national labour hire regulatory scheme to be overseen by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
In a decision closely examining the FWC's power to award costs, a reinstated worker who was the beneficiary of an earlier ruling has on rehearing failed to persuade the Commission that her employer either unreasonably defended the unfairness of its actions or ignored its poor prospects of success.
New rules for recording the working hours of junior lawyers and paralegals are set to take effect from March, despite protests from major law firms, while up to a million clerical employees are set to be subject to similar provisions.
Service station owners who required a visa-dependent employee to hand over his tax refund and cover the cost of drive-offs have been ordered to compensate the former console operator and his fellow-worker wife more than $50,000 after a court found them accessorily liable for underpayments.
In yet another decision highlighting the potential pitfalls of social media use, the FWC has dismissed the extension of time application of a beauty therapist who claimed to suffer from agoraphobia but posted regular images of herself out with friends and "feeling fabulous".
