The Federal Government's long service leave scheme for the black coal industry has won special leave from the High Court to challenge a full Federal Court judgment that it says has significant implications for the LSL eligibility of shotfiring and explosive services workers.
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.
A FWC full bench has overturned a ruling that due to an employee's lack of award coverage, her employer - which conceded that the SCHADS award applied - had no obligation to consult her before making her redundant.
The FWC has upbraided a small business owner for informing a supervisor through an email drafted with help from ChatGPT that it had decided to retrench her, finding that sacking a worker via such a "cursory" means fails "to adhere to basic standards of decency".
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 Federal Court has approved a $174 million Victorian Government payout to settle 30 class actions on behalf of junior doctors, of which ASMOF will be reimbursed $175,000, following a finding that a health service "expressly and brazenly" instructed trainees to perform unpaid overtime.
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 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.
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.
A FWC full bench has rejected an employer's challenge to a finding that it must grant an employee's flexible work request, upholding a decision that reaffirms the precedence of NES provisions even when inconsistent with the terms of an enterprise agreement.
