In a decision vindicating the FWO's resistance to the grouping of multiple contraventions for the purpose of setting penalties, the workplace watchdog has won a fivefold increase in fines imposed on an underpaying company director.
The Morrison Government is looking to win crossbench support in the Senate for its crackdown on unions and officials who repeatedly break the law by stressing that it is aligning their treatment with that applying to wayward companies and directors under the Corporations Act 2001.
A senior FWC member in upholding a Virgin Australia ground crew worker's dismissal over pilfered cigarettes has noted that "one's fate" is often sealed by attempted cover-ups rather than the actual misconduct, further observing that the former employee did himself no favours when posting on social media that the airline's HR partner was a "despicable human being".
A Fair Work Commission member has for the second time in two days refused to re-allocate arbitration of a CFMMEU matter, insisting parties "don't get to decide" despite full bench advice that those conciliating a dispute should automatically step aside from arbitrating it if a party objects.
The Federal Court has ordered a timber factory to reinstate a CFMMEU delegate while it determines his adverse action claim, noting a "distinct coincidence" in his sacking soon after joining the union and becoming involved in bargaining that appears "too acute to be accidental".
The Federal Court has found a sexually harassed worker has a reasonable chance of successfully challenging orders clearing a Boral subsidiary of vicarious liability, on the basis that the judgment is "unsafe" due to a six-year delay.
A multinational company has won a rare stay on orders that it pay 173 former detention centre workers more than $130,000 in unpaid allowances, after the Federal Court found the union pushing their case had no record of their whereabouts.
A multinational "people flow" company can require a tradesperson with severe claustrophobia to transfer from an escalator repair team to an elevator repair team, the FWC has found, while cautioning that its approach to accommodating his condition would be considered if he returned with an unfair dismissal claim.
The ABCC is pressing ahead with prosecutions against the CFMMEU, three officials and 44 individual workers over alleged industrial action last year on a Perth airport rail link project.
The FWC has thrown out a bullying claim from an employment consultant who felt aggrieved by his manager's approach to a colleague's "dad jokes" and accused his manager of sexually harassing him by touching his shoulder during a discussion about political correctness.
