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Melbourne's fire authority has failed to have FWC member Nick Wilson bar himself from hearing its high-stakes application to terminate its expired enterprise agreements after he ruled that a "fair-minded observer" would not see any difficulties with his involvement in earlier related cases.

In its first substantive ruling on the merits of an application under the new bullying jurisdiction, the Fair Work Commission has fleshed out the concept of "reasonable management action" in rejecting a manager's claim that she had been subjected to repeated unreasonable treatment by two of her subordinates.

The Fair Work Commission has knocked back a major electricity distributor's application to exclude middle managers and senior technical employees from its new enterprise agreement, finding "no persuasive evidence" it would improve productivity and efficiency.

The Federal Court has ruled that the Fair Work Act's general protections provisions cover a wide range of employment complaints, but said they were not the reason for a client services manager's sacking.

The Federal Court has refused to reinstate a sales consultant pending the hearing of his wrongful dismissal claim, finding that his relationship with his former employer had broken down and that damages would be an adequate remedy if he ended up winning his case.

A court has found it seriously arguable that a contractual clause was reasonable in restraining a Fairfax executive from working for a competitor for six months, but refused to order him to comply because the publisher was slow to enforce it and because he had given undertakings not to poach clients or use his former employer's confidential information.

The Federal Court has ordered the CFMEU to stop blocking access to a major Sydney apartment project, pending the full hearing of the developer's claim that the union has breached secondary boycott laws.

NUW Victorian branch secretary Tim Kennedy is poised to succeed Charlie Donnelly as the union's national secretary, in the latest leadership changes at the top of the Australian labour movement.

The Fair Work Commission has pushed the federal and state governments to show their hands in this year's wage review, asking them what dollar or percentage increase would constitute a "cautious" or "balanced" approach.

The ACTU has asked that a member of the minimum wage review panel stand aside on the grounds of "apprehended bias" after he sat on the Abbott Government's Commission of Audit, which recommended a radical reduction in the pay safety net. Meanwhile, retail super funds have begun legal action against the FWC.