Legal page 289 of 565

A tribunal member failed to properly regard the disputed date of an embassy employee's dismissal in refusing to allow him to proceed with a general protections claim, an FWC full bench has found.

The FWC has upheld a cattle station's sacking of a director for serious misconduct, finding he paid himself unauthorised leave and failed to inform the elderly business owners of escalating legal fees of more than $1 million.

Victorian State Labor MP and former AWU leader Cesar Melhem has agreed to admit eight civil breaches of the law covering union memberships, avoiding a scheduled 12-day trial due to begin tomorrow in the Federal Court.

The FWC has in accepting a worker's late unfair dismissal application overlooked her failure to include her former employer in emails seeking numerous time extensions, finding it balanced by her willingness to "engage" with the Commission in pursuing the matter.

A bottle shop attendant told by her manager that she would not be able to work in a bar while pregnant because it was "a bad look" has been awarded almost $40,000 in compensation and penalties, a court finding there was "no doubt" the employer breached adverse action provisions.

An academic found to have been unlawfully dismissed by James Cook University over criticisms of prominent climate research has been awarded more than $1.2 million, the presiding judge excoriating the institution over its "egregious abuse of power" and public statements intended to "sow doubt" about his findings.

In a significant decision on the nature of work, the FWC has ruled that employees required to attend a worksite assembly point by a prescribed time before being transported to a pre-start meeting should be paid for the intervening period.

In a decision traversing some of the challenges of protecting hard-won conditions in a difficult commercial environment, the CFMMEU has failed to block the termination of a construction deal no longer covering any workers after the company argued its uncompetitive terms and conditions hampered its ability to win new contracts.

Two excavator operators who allegedly belittled trainees with "foul tirades" that left them so shaken one walked off the job have won compensation, the FWC finding their dismissal was procedurally unfair.

The FWC has dismissed Esso Australia's application to terminate the agreement covering offshore workers in Bass Strait, in the latest twist in a five-year bargaining dispute.