The National Australia Bank is facing criminal charges that it failed to pay long service leave entitlements to casual employees in Victoria, as the State's wage theft watchdog continues its pursuit of big employers.
A court has thrown out an FWO underpayment case on behalf of four delivery drivers it argued were employees rather than independent contractors, the judge narrowly finding that all parties intended to operate at arm's length when originally formalising their relationship.
The FWC has decided to conclude a case with a "lengthy and complex" history, dismissing an employer's bid to further delay consideration of a union's application to terminate its nominally-expired deal while it challenges the tribunal's rejection of a new agreement to the Federal Court.
In a decision illustrating the delicate balancing act required of the FWC when considering axing old agreements, a recently-employed worker has succeeding in having a security company's 15-year-old deal scrapped over the loud objections of all but a few of his fellow employees.
Hospitality industry employers have won approval to roll up overtime, penalty and split-shift rates for full-time higher-paid workers after a FWC full bench rejected union concerns that changing the award for a small cohort could leave a broader group of employees worse off.
A court has accepted that it should impose a reduced underpayment penalty on an employer and its director because last year's extended coronavirus lockdown in Melbourne significantly reduced the size and financial resources of the business.
IR academics say the High Court's "revolutionary" approach in Rossato signals an intention to rewrite the rules for determining employment status, with potentially dire consequences for gig workers and others seeking to challenge their characterisation.
Employers once said to be facing up to $38 billion in casuals' backpay claims have welcomed today's High Court confirmation that contracts are decisive in determining employment types, while workers' representatives have come out swinging.
The High Court has today unanimously upheld labour hire company Workpac's challenge to a finding that coal mineworker Robert Rossato was entitled to paid leave while engaged as a casual on consecutive contracts for almost four years.
