After a national employer body suggested its industry's "blokey" culture means workers are unlikely to admit they are domestic violence victims, "let alone [seek] FDV leave under an award", the FWC yesterday set a September 1 deadline for submissions on whether modern awards should provide unpaid leave, ahead of hearings in October.
An FWC full bench has quashed an agreement struck with five Sigma Healthcare recruits, finding the NUW had been denied natural justice when the pharmaceuticals giant failed to provide it with its application for approval on the basis that the union had ceased to be a bargaining representative.
United Voice has launched Federal Court action against security giant Wilson, accusing it of unlawfully allocating overtime payments to Sundays in a bid to avoid paying correct penalty rates to security guards.
The FWC today gave a strong signal that it is anxious to bring to a head Coles employee Penny Vickers' bid to terminate the supermarket giant's enterprise agreement, acknowledging criticism that the case had dragged on before granting the night-fill worker an extension to supply supporting documents.
The Independent Education Union is urging NSW and ACT Catholic school teachers to endorse rolling stop-work action after it negotiated a "pretty good" agreement that nevertheless contained no guaranteed access to arbitration.
The FAAA says it is delighted with a new deal endorsed by more than 90% of voting Qantas international flight attendants, but the TWU has slammed it for perpetuating a two-tiered system that pays some cabin crew less than half the money for performing the same work.
A lower court has asked the Federal Court to distinguish between "jurisdiction" and "powers" after wrestling with the question in a case where a union accused an employer of breaching its enterprise agreement and the employer counter-claimed that the agreement was not genuinely agreed.
Fair Work Commission President Iain Ross has given parties involved in the domestic violence leave case one week to provide submissions in response to the full bench's preliminary view that affected employees should have access to unpaid leave.
An FWC full bench has refused to accept Coles Supermarkets night-fill employee Penny Vickers' argument that its law firm's conflict of interest should rule it out from helping to repel her bid to terminate its 2011 agreement.
The CFMEU's mining and energy division has welcomed an FWC ruling not to allow the spread of casual workers in the black coal mining industry, vowing to resist future "attacks" on award conditions.
