Employer's text didn't dismiss employee; Correct ABN speeds application amendment; Bench clears way for challenge to authority on fixed-term contracts.
Catholic school employers have failed to convince the FWC to refer to a full bench its challenge to the right of NSW and ACT teachers to take protected action on the basis their dioceses are not "single interest employers" as required by the Fair Work Act.
Telstra has suspended a planned vote to vary an agreement to comply with the building code and has applied to the ABCC for an exemption following a Turnbull Government amendment that allows exemptions for the construction of essential services.
The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet has agreed to enter into mediation with an employee who accuses it of taking adverse action by suspending and demoting her and directing her to take indefinite leave following a long absence for cancer treatment and surgery.
The FWC has reaffirmed its jurisdictional ambit to determine right-of-entry disputes after an employer questioned whether it was seeking to exercise judicial powers it does not possess.
Major construction company Laing O'Rourke has failed to convince the FWC that a current agreement clause could effectively render its NSW and ACT deals compliant with the building code, but the tribunal has recommended that the CFMEU and employees take all necessary steps to achieve compliance.
An FWC member has observed that a business with more than 40 employees "is large enough to warrant a HR manager and a HR officer" in a case where an employer sought leave to challenge its own HR manager's recollection of events.
The FWC's minimum wage panel is seeking submissions by next Friday on whether to hold a preliminary hearing into new "budget standards" research that establishes the income required for a healthy lifestyle, updated for changes in household expenses since the development of the original benchmark in the mid-1990s.
