Bench says employer's "bland" description no help to BOOT assessment; FWC takes chainsaw to gardener's sacking; and Tribunal rejects bid to require witness to appear in person.
An FWC full bench has reserved its decision in a case that looms as a significant test of what constitutes a new activity for the purposes of making a greenfields agreement.
Aerocare's 2500 workers today began voting on a new offer by the aviation ground-handler that seeks to cut through a thicket of litigation and hurdle strong opposition from the TWU and ASU.
The FWC is set this afternoon to hear Patrick Stevedores' application to Commission to stop alleged planned industrial action by MUA members at its Port Botany container terminal in support of maintenance workers who are about to embark on a seven-day protected strike.
The Fair Work Commission has blocked an attempt by 83 employees of an oil and gas refinery at Geelong from resigning en masse as members of an in-house Fire Auxiliary Team in a disagreement over safety and training.
A review of the 2015 amendments to the Fair Work Act's greenfields agreements provisions has rejected union pleas to axe "last offer" arbitration - despite a failure by employers to utilise it - and has recommended reducing from six months to three the "negotiating period" before the FWC can break deadlocks.
In a decision where the employer's case was embarrassingly "scuttled" by its own witness, a senior FWC member has found that Ausgrid failed to inform four safety specialists during job interviews that they wouldn't be receiving an allowance due to them under the relevant agreement.
Employers are not automatically entitled to reduce roster allowances when working hours fall below an agreement's "indicative" threshold, a court has found.
In a decision sure to be closely analysed by employers, a court has ruled that a worker is entitled to accrued annual leave despite being paid a casual loading for 15 years.
