The FWC has ordered an aged care provider to restore leave days to employees it directed to stay away from work over COVID-19 transmission fears, observing "it's just the right thing to do".
In a case likely to be closely watched by employers considering mandatory coronavirus vaccinations, the FWC will probe whether Ozcare unfairly sacked a long serving care assistant who refused a compulsory flu shot on allergy grounds, while the Commission has also weighed-in on the contentious issue of compulsory jabs for Santas.
IR Minister Christian Porter says that talks will soon start with employers and unions to work through the complex legal and workplace safety issues surrounding the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines.
The Morrison Government has signed a $198,000 contract for market research that might inform an advertising campaign to sell the changes in the IR omnibus bill that is before the Senate.
A five-member FWC full bench has confirmed the provisional view it reached in August last year that there is not a strong enough case, with the COVID-19 pandemic relatively well-controlled in Australia, to insert paid pandemic in awards covering paramedics and NDIS, home care and patient transport workers.
An ABC makeup artist who claims her Lyme disease makes it unsafe to wear an anti-coronavirus mask and wants to instead don a shield is suing the broadcaster for discriminatory adverse action after it allegedly removed her from its roster.
The FWC has found employers are not obliged to keep workers on the payroll because of JobKeeper's availability, but has awarded a manager compensation for unfair dismissal that included 24 weeks of the job subsidy, because retaining him would have been "entirely consistent" with the scheme's objectives.
If the FWC incorporates loaded rates in hospitality and retail awards after a referral from IR Minister Christian Porter, it is likely to involve a range of such rates rather than a single one, the tribunal's president indicated in a statement today.
Home-based workers will be able to negotiate their preferred hours and breaks under COVID-19-related award flexibilities likely to be approved by the FWC this week.
After revoking a finding that a worker was entitled to carer's leave as his mother could not look after his children due to COVID-19 concerns, the FWC has found he met the bar for only one day and can "split the different" on repaying the rest.
