Woolworths has revealed another $144 million in underpayments to workers covered by its three main enterprise agreements, while warning its backpay bill for its earlier revelations about shortchanging salaried employees could still go higher.
If the Federal Government appoints a new member to the FWC, they are likely to be located in Sydney, the tribunal's general manager told a Senate Estimates hearing last night.
The FWC has warned employers that the "clock is ticking" for Work Choices "zombie" agreements in rebuffing a large employer's bid to keep a 2008 flat-rate deal operating until May or June, coinciding with the 10-year anniversary of its nominal expiry.
In a further warning on the importance of accurate payroll systems, the Australian Red Cross Society has become the latest surprising addition to the list of underpaying employers to have entered enforceable undertakings with the FWO after the charity self-reported short-changing employees a figure now estimated to top $25 million.
A FWC full bench's insertion of a minimum wage guarantee in the horticulture award to ensure pieceworkers earn at least $25.41 an hour is "one of the most significant industrial decisions of modern times", according to the AWU.
A tribunal has ordered the NSW Rural Fire Service to revisit its rejection of a senior manager's request for a year's leave to recover from the devastating 2019-20 bushfire season, while acknowledging concerns about a leadership void for the approaching summer and urging it to extend its search for a temporary replacement.
A court has accepted that it should impose a reduced underpayment penalty on an employer and its director because last year's extended coronavirus lockdown in Melbourne significantly reduced the size and financial resources of the business.
An FWC full bench has called for the Commission to win stronger powers to curb "serial litigation", after it awarded indemnity costs against a worker who sought to overturn a failed four-year-old reclassification ruling.
A traffic management company seeking a deal paying night workers shift loadings instead of higher overtime rates even if they don't take over from a preceding shift has lost its appeal bid after refusing to give an undertaking to overcome the deficiency.
