Economist and former Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission presidential member Joe Isaac has called for a major overhaul of IR laws to restore the power of unions and boost the "authority" of the IR tribunal to drive wages growth.
An employer has been set the challenge of reverse engineering an agreement rejected on the basis it was not genuinely agreed, after the FWC observed that while achievable through undertakings it was nonetheless a "difficult task".
A prison officer effectively sacked twice after pleading guilty to assaulting three inmates has again won his job back, an appeal court finding that the IR commissioner who originally reinstated him had correctly focused on what is fair and just, rather than "the reputation of the government".
In a rare case of an FWC member standing themselves down, a commissioner has found that comments she made about the "vexatious" applicants in a discontinued anti-bullying case could lead observers to question her impartiality when considering a counter anti-bullying application by the original respondent.
The CPSU says it will recommend Bureau of Meteorology workers reject a new agreement offer that relegates delegates' access rights to a side deal and makes them subject to management approval, vowing in the meantime to keep inserting campaign messages into the bureau's forecasts.
The Flight Attendants Association has successfully claimed a small business exemption from a manager's unfair dismissal claim on the basis elected officials are not employees, the FWC finding that in helping draft a ROC complaint she defied reasonable directions not to discuss the secretary.
Two big international direct marketing companies exercised control over workers who were engaged as independent contractors to sell products or solicit donations to major corporations and charities, according to documents lodged with the Federal Court.
A public stoush over representation of flight crew has hit the tarmac, with ousted FAAA national division secretary Andrew Staniforth calling on the ROC to pursue maximum penalties against his successor over statements about his new employee representation company.
The ABCC will continue to take a strict line against the flying of the Eureka and CFMMEU flags on construction sites, despite the Fair Work Commission finding that it does not breach freedom of association.
The Fair Work Commission is missing its internal deadlines for approving enterprise agreements as it copes with an increasing number of complex deals that might need undertakings.
