The FWC has called on the ACTU to urgently step in and take the lead on settling disputes between several unions and Qantas over the airline's refusal to pay sick leave to workers stood down due to the coronavirus.
A full Federal Court has quashed an FWC full bench agreement variation ruling that endorsed a senior member's belief that he could not consider evidence about the intended meaning of a clause because he did not interpret it as ambiguous.
The FWC says the first application to vary an enterprise agreement in response to the coronavirus will be heard by a full bench to determine whether the "exceptional circumstance" provisions apply.
Qantas long-haul pilots have voted 85% in favour of a new deal that will enable them to fly its Project Sunrise non-stop international routes, assuming the airline pushes ahead with its plan after dealing with the fallout from the coronavirus.
A senior Victorian public sector lawyer who failed to establish that agreement terms had been incorporated into his employment contract has been ordered to pay his employer the $200,000 in costs it sustained through its undertaking to keep him in his job until the finalisation of the case.
The Federal Court has rejected a "novel" contention that the FWC would be invalidly exercising judicial power if it arbitrated a dispute under an agreement an employer inherited after winning a Defence Department tender.
The FWC has moved quickly to endorse coronavirus redeployment measures agreed between the UWU and DHL Supply Chain, enabling employees to maintain their terms and conditions while temporarily working in other industry sectors.
An FWC full bench has taken aim at the legal advice given to a group of Coles distribution centre workers who over the course of four years and four adverse findings continued to pursue what ultimately became a "hopeless" case related to their work duties.
An MUA delegate has been cleared to pursue the termination of a contentious waterfront deal after a full Federal Court found he had not abused the process by acting as the union's "front man".
