Ramsey group to put $1.5 million in trust to secure entitlements
HSU East backs de-merger, condemns Jackson
FWA nurses' industrial action suspension order available
Manager "sealed fate" by complaining of bullying: lawyer
No sign of wages breakout, says ACTU
Harmer and Charlesworth speaking at Perth roundtable
Ramsey group to put $1.5 million in trust to secure entitlements
An abattoir owner has agreed to put $1.5m into trust to guarantee that more than 200 redundant employees will receive their severance, annual leave and long service entitlements.
After a spirited hearing before Justice Steven Rares in Sydney, Stuart Ramsey’s lawyer, Simon Meehan, gave the court his client’s undertaking that when his South Grafton abattoir sold, he would transfer the money into a solicitor’s trust account.
The sale had been due to settle this week.
Before Ramsey gave his undertaking, Justice Rares said given the history of Ramsey companies, there was a "real danger" employees would not be paid if he did not order the money be quarantined.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has been pursuing the Ramsey Group of companies concerned it would fail to pay its workers’ entitlements.
Meehan said the Ramsey group always intended to pay the employees what they were owed but that there would be a transfer of business under s311 of the Fair Work Act, which would make the new owner responsible for employee entitlements.
Between 50% and 60% of the about 200 South Grafton abattoir workers will be employed at the Casino abattoir, 100km to the north, on a three-month trial basis, according to Meehan.
While the case continues the $1.5 million can only be released to meet worker entitlements.
Last month the FWO successfully prosecuted Ramsey Food Processing and its manager and director for sham contracting (see Related Article).
Justice Robert Buchanan found it had moved workers from one internal company to another to avoid both past and future liability for employee entitlements.
The case will resume before Justice Rares tomorrow.
Fair Work Ombudsman v Stuart Bruce Ramsey & Ors, NSD 1915/2011
HSU East backs de-merger, condemns Jackson
The HSU's East branch has overwhelmingly passed a motion in support of reversing last year's merger of the Victorian and NSW/ACT branches.
The motion "condemned" branch president Kathy Jackson for taking allegations of impropriety within the union to the media rather than dealing with them internally and expressed no confidence in her.
"We demand that the union council demerge and create an ACT/NSW branch and that a Victorian branch be created," the motion said.
FWA nurses' industrial action suspension order available
Fair Work Australia's order suspending industrial action by Victorian public sector nurses is now available (see Related Article).
The full bench is yet to issue its reasons.
Manager "sealed fate" by complaining of bullying: lawyer
A Bank of Melbourne senior marketing manager who alleges she was made redundant after complaining of bullying and intimidation by her team leader has commenced an adverse action case.
Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein said the marketing manager was headhunted for the role at the Westpac subsidiary but instead of the promised "opportunity of a lifetime" was forced to work in an increasingly toxic environment.
"Our client alleges that she was threatened and belittled and that once she followed company policy by complaining to the HR department, her fate at the bank was sealed.
"From that moment, she was stripped of responsibilities, excluded from meetings and then retrenched,” Bornstein said.
Under s340 of the Fair Work Act an employee cannot be dismissed for making a workplace complaint.
A Westpac spokesperson said the bank took the allegations seriously and as a result of its investigations it refuted the employee's claims and would vigorously defend the application to Fair Work Australia.
A conciliation hearing is expected to be scheduled in the next few weeks.
No sign of breakout as wages grow at "solid and sustainable" rate, says ACTU
Employer bodies' warnings about imminent wage breakouts have been undermined by yesterday's data that shows the pace of growth is "solid and sustainable", says ACTU secretary Jeff Lawrence.
The ABS Labour Price Index released yesterday shows rates of pay excluding bonuses are growing at 3.7% a year in trend terms (see Related Article).
Lawrence says the 3.6% headline growth rate "is in line with its long-term average of 3.6%, while quarterly growth is slightly below average".
He pointed out that the rate of pay growth matched the inflation rate (the September CPI showed that consumer prices were rising at 3.5% a year).
"The facts are that the wages share of national income is now 53.1%, close to the lowest it has been for almost 50 years, while the profits share of 28.1% is close to the all-time high," he said.
"Since this time last year, employer groups have been screaming that a wages breakout was imminent, but there is no evidence this has occurred."
Yesterday's data showed that quarterly growth was fastest in hospitality, with a 2.2% rise, the largest in that sector in the 14 years that data has been collected for the Labour Price Index.
In the mining sector, pay rates excluding bonuses grew at just 0.5% in the quarter (and 4.2% annually).
Harmer and Charlesworth speaking at Perth roundtable
Harmers Workplace Lawyers principal Michael Harmer and Sara Charlesworth from the Centre for Work + Life at the University of SA will take part in an ALERA WA roundtable on contemporary workplace issues next week.
The association is seeking RSVPs by tomorrow.