Queensland's Supreme Court has made a ruling suggesting that environmental clean-up costs trump employee obligations when companies fail, according to top-tier law firm Herbert Smith Freehills.
Early adopters Sydney Water and the ASU are again making use of the FWC's New Approaches program in negotiations for a new three-year agreement, providing workers with detailed proposals for conditions and pay rises after four days early this month of "interest-based" assisted talks.
Australia's major banks say they will overhaul retail employees' pay structures to reduce the importance of incentives, commissions and variable rewards.
An FWC full bench has ordered a re-examination of the sacking of a worker for his "nonchalance" towards OHS obligations, lack of contrition after a workplace mishap and failure to wear safety glasses.
The FWC has rejected a bid for bargaining orders to stop an agreement going to ballot, finding the employer was entitled to "draw a line in the sand" and refuse further negotiations.
An Emirates group subsidiary is planning to cut pay and conditions for its ground crew at Australian airports, the ASU has alleged in a submission to a Senate inquiry.
Victoria's police federation has lost a battle to secure overtime for officers working at the 2014 G20 leaders' summit in Brisbane after the FWC concluded they were not working in the six hours between checking out of their hotel and a bus arriving to take them to their homebound flights.
The Palaszczuk Labor government has appointed former ACTU assistant secretary Tim Lyons to conduct a "best practice audit" of Queensland's workplace health and safety laws.
As a new agreement covering Coca-Cola Amatil's expanding Queensland manufacturing operations awaits consideration in the FWC, United Voice has accused the employer of closing its South Australian plant to take advantage of the lower-paying northern state deal.