The FWC has declined to interfere with the ATO's decision to refuse a worker absent more than 248 days in a year access to unpaid personal leave, observing that its enterprise agreement did not provide an "unfettered" right to such time off.
The public outcry about multi-employer bargaining during the passage of the Secure Jobs legislation was "massively overstated" in the light of the limited number of cases that have since emerged, but recent reforms might have revived single-enterprise bargaining, according to FWC President Adam Hatcher.
The ETU's hard-fought campaigns for new deals with two NSW electricity suppliers have moved closer to FWC-arbitrated resolutions after the union and Endeavour Energy received a fortnight to hammer out their differences and state secretary Allen Hicks expressed hope that a Commission full bench would make an intractable bargaining determination for Transgrid "by early next year".
In what unions are calling a win for all Tasmanian workers, listed Canadian-owned food giant Saputo has after 20 weeks of industrial action agreed to a 21.7% pay rise for maintenance employees at its Burnie cheese plant.
NSW public school teachers have voted up a three-year agreement that builds on a "breakthrough" deal last year that lifted wages by 4% in addition to big one-off rises for those at the top and bottom of pay scales.
More than 33,000 WA public sector workers are in line for a 12.5% pay increase over three years and up to 27 weeks of "more flexible" parental leave for both caregivers, as the CPSU Civil Service Association pledges to keep fighting for a four-day work week.
A full Federal Court has found Qube Ports lacked standing to retrospectively vary expired agreements, clearing the way for the CFMEU's maritime division to pursue the stevedoring giant for millions in allegedly wrongly-deducted "gap" payments from up to 1000 wharfies' remuneration.
NSW PSA members have voted to accept a 10% pay rise over three years plus a 1% super boost in what State Treasurer Daniel Mookhey says is "proof that a mature government" can negotiate a deal that's good for both taxpayers and workers.
The FWC has taken the unusual step of allowing an employer's HR manager on behalf of workers to sign off on an agreement not backed by the CFMEU's construction division, after accepting evidence that employees were "reluctant" to put their names to the deal.
FWC President Adam Hatcher is seeking feedback by October 25 on draft same-job, same-pay guidelines, including on whether the Commission should publish them.
