A Federal Court full bench has overturned a lower court's interpretation of an employment contract, finding that it had wrongly taken account of the parties' conduct after it commenced.
A company's requirement for an employee to work additional unpaid hours and make himself available on-call was neither lawful nor reasonable, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in upholding his unfair dismissal claim.
Giving teenage employees free and discounted pizzas and soft drink instead of wages – a practice belonging "in the dark ages rather than twenty first century Australia" – has cost a pizza franchise operator $335,000 in fines.
News Corp Australia has offered a real pay cut for several thousand journalists employed at its Australian newspapers and is also seeking to reduce redundancy entitlements for new hires.
A finance broking house that issued a Brisbane-based employee five payslips in six years and employed him on a commission-based agreement that it believed did not entitle him to base salary, sick pay, annual leave and superannuation entitlements has been ordered to pay him almost $124,000 in penalties.
Tugboat workers in Port Hedland, the outlet for much of Australia's iron ore exports, have endorsed legally protected industrial action in pursuit of improved pay and conditions in a new agreement.
Justice Ross finalises annual leave award review scope; Retailers appeal junior rates ruling; Court closes door on adverse action costs claim; and Mammone moves to AMMA.
The Federal Court has overturned a ruling by the Federal Circuit Court that paint manufacturer Wattyl did not breach its enterprise agreement when it directed employees to take annual leave during a production scale-down in 2012.
The AiG will argue for a raft of annual leave changes as part of the four-year review of modern awards, including greater powers for employers to compel workers to take annual leave during close-downs and when accrued leave reaches "excessive" levels.
A Fair Work Commission full bench has rejected – by a two to one majority – a raft of claims to vary annual leave provisions in modern awards as part of the two-year transitional review, finding that many of them would more appropriately be dealt with in the broader review next year.
