A PSA South Australia industrial officer who claimed the union decided against extending her contract because she complained about a bullying colleague has lost her adverse action claim.
The FWC has backed Woolworths' summary sacking of a 63-year-old manager found to have s-xually harassed a 29-year-old colleague when he sent her a red lipstick kiss emoji and texted "I love you".
A "high-stakes" case set to test whether State workplace protections extend to independent contractors under the Fair Work Act has been set down for a three-week trial beginning in May, after Federal Court Chief Justice Debra Mortimer agreed that having enough time to assess witnesses is "critical" in such proceedings.
The FWC's approach to assessing flexible work disputes is potentially undermining workers' rights to plan ahead, an academic has warned, after the tribunal held that a Sydney Water employee could not make such a request in the lead-up to his 55th birthday, and found a father ineligible until he finalised his custody arrangement.
FWC President Adam Hatcher has asked parties to the SCHADS award gender undervaluation case to consider participating in an ASU-proposed conference to resolve outstanding issues, saying that if it proceeds, he will give any consensus deal arising from it "significant weight".
The ASU will forge ahead with nationwide protests tomorrow despite the Australian Industry Group's accusations that it is engaging in unlawful retaliation and intimidation, ahead of a hearing of the SCHADS award gender undervaluation case on Monday.
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".
The FWC has approved the SDA's plan to add three women-only roles to its national executive, to guarantee 25% of the majority-female union's national executive are women, up from the current 11%.
A nurse and one-time member of the ANMF Victorian branch council has this week learned his quest to topple the union's incumbent leadership fell flat, had his bid to establish a rival union knocked out, and failed to convince a FWC member to recuse herself from dealing with his bullying claim.
The FWC has found a flexible working request invalid, because of its "tenuous" connection to the worker's caring responsibilities and the strain his absence would have imposed on other workers.
