Legal page 544 of 569

A Fair Work Commission full bench has upheld a decision to refuse a Queensland building union official an entry permit, while a senior member has stayed the suspension of permits for 12 other officers.

In two separate decisions, the Fair Work Commission has ruled that it has the power to arbitrate on the use of mobile phones at BHP Coal's Bowen Basin mines and that a tram driver was unfairly sacked after being accused of using his phone while on the road.

A Toll employee who intimidated a drug and alcohol testing technician and maintained he was medically unfit to attend meetings with management about his behaviour was validly dismissed, the Fair Work Commission has found.

The HSU's Victoria No 1 branch elections have been delayed until a federal court inquiry is held into the eligibility of two nominees.

A maths teacher employed as a casual for one month is suing the public school's principal and his supervisor for defamation after they assessed him – using a pro forma departmental form - as suitable only for limited casual teaching roles.

Anti-bullying order restricts worker's exercise regime; Adult retail worker pay rates to stay; ILO challenge to Tasmanian IR legislation; and Federal government pilots new training programs.

A major IT company had a valid reason to sack a project manager who wrongly claimed overnight expenses on 141 occasions over less than 12 months, but his dismissal was unfair given his long and otherwise unblemished service and the long delay in investigating the misconduct, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.

The Federal Court has fined the HSU and three former Victorian officials a total of nearly $68,000 for financial governance irregularities, and, in a first under registered organisations legislation, ordered one of them to repay the union more than $26,000.

Tasmania's Hodgman Government has introduced draft legislation for its proposal to impose a 12-month freeze on the wages and incremental increases of the state's 24,000 public servants and remove the State IRC's power to award future pay increases above a 2% Government-set cap.

The Fair Work Commission has granted a company's request for good faith bargaining orders to provide for separate negotiations over four agreements in one case, but has knocked back a union's application for orders in another after finding that the employer was entitled to take a "hard" position in discussions.