The implications of the Federal Court's retail underpayments decision are only starting to be understood, with employment law academic Andrew Stewart warning of the significent consequences of its redefinition of employer record-keeping obligations and findings on proving workers' agreement to vary award conditions.
The FSU says employers are now on notice that they must have genuine business grounds for refusing flexible work arrangements, after the FWC made orders to enable a Westpac employee to work from home to care for her children, finding "no question" her role can be "performed completely remotely".
In its first use of the new power to unilaterally amend the terms of substandard proposed agreements, the FWC has signalled it will rewrite provisions in three Aldi enterprise deals that leave storepersons worse off, to enable their approval.
Grill'd is lauding a newly-approved agreement that it says will result in its workers being the best-paid fast food workers across the nation, while the SDA says that Grill'd only agreed not to systematically underpay workers after months of union pressure.
Almost a year after orders became available under Labor's landmark same-job, same-pay laws, a review of progress by Workplace Express indicates there have been about 50 decisions, with the MEU, UWU, AMIEU and SDA accounting for more than 70% of them.
Workers at Woodside's Pluto 2 LNG expansion in the Pilbara have overwhelmingly voted down head contractor Bechtel's proposed agreement, while Rio Tinto's Paraburdoo iron ore workers are set to receive a pay rise, announced shortly after unions kicked-off their majority support campaign.
The workplace watchdog's power to hold franchisors to account for franchisees' underpayments has been bolstered, after a full Federal Court today threw out a challenge by the Bakers Delight chain.
A court has temporarily barred the NTEU from pursuing a FWC dispute application challenging a UTS decision to suspend enrolments into more than 100 courses, a month after SafeWork NSW lifted a prohibition notice pausing planned layoffs at the university.
The TWU is threatening strikes in the cash-in-transit industry in three states - with 99% of Victorian Armaguard workers already voting in favour - arguing its hand has been forced by a lack of progress in pay talks, eight months after the union's novel bid to rope-in the industry's major customers to secure pay rises.
A court has fined an employer more than $42,000 for refusing to let AMIEU NSW branch assistant secretary Jason Schultz enter its lunchroom to speak with workers the day before they were to vote on a new agreement, while also threatening to call the police.
