In a ruling that builds on the recent "shadow lawyers" decision, an FWC full bench has found that a large company with in-house IR legal expertise does not require approval to engage a law firm to prepare its defence of a self-represented worker's dismissal claim.
The Registered Organisations Commission is seeking information from the HSU's Victorian No 1 branch, in response to what is alleged to be a protected disclosure from a whistleblower.
The FSU has asked the Federal Court to rule that a global currency exchange company is covered by the banking, finance and insurance award, claiming it shifted to the retail award after the recent reduction in penalty rates.
A WA law firm will have to defend a restricted legal practitioner's underpayment and unfair dismissal claims after it failed to convince the state's IRC that he was an independent contractor, with the tribunal finding that only common law employees can be engaged in such roles.
An HR manager who engaged in a "concerted campaign" against her employer's interests, openly compiling a dossier about it and exceeding her authority by initiating a colleague's redundancy, has failed to win back her job.
The FWC on rehearing a yard hand's dismissal application has observed his employer's lack of HR expertise did not wash as an excuse for the "disgraceful and grossly unfair" sacking, but slashed compensation due to his vulgar language and propensity to snap when frustrated.
The FWC has chastised an employer for failing to abide by "industrial fair play" when it neglected to tell a worker it would seek to slash his redundancy payment if he didn't accept an alternative role.
The Federal Court has upheld Qantas' right to refuse access to documents sought over a "leave burn" program for aircraft engineers, in a decision a union leader says raises the bar for entering workplaces to prove breaches.
