In what a leading labour law academic describes as a "victory for common sense", a full court has quashed a ruling that union officials cannot use their right to enter premises for discussions with members to gather signatures on petitions or "secure a commitment to a particular course of action in the future".
A FIFO chemist on a Santos-operated vessel who resigned after seeking an "appropriate safe job" while pregnant and challenging instructions to hasten her return from parental leave has established that her employer's cumulative conduct forced her hand.
In a full bench decision exploring what constitutes work-related conduct, essential services provider Ventia has failed to knock out the reinstatement of a firefighter who shared an Only Fans video and a meme showing three naked women in a "sickos" Facebook group of current and former colleagues.
A victim of "appalling" domestic violence did not need to provide independent medical advice to explain why she filed an unfair dismissal application almost four months late, the FWC has found.
In a rare decision exploring the statutory definition of "retirement age", a judge has determined that it is the age at which a person qualifies for the pension, rather than when they can access superannuation.
A jeweller who showered a manager with gifts and compliments, along with unrequited declarations of his affections and a slap on the bottom, is facing a record damages payout for sexually harassing her and victimising her for complaining about it, while his law firm is under fire for the "intimidatory and vindictive" tone of its correspondence.
A former Indian High Commissioner who paid a live-in domestic worker $9 a day to keep his eight-bedroom Canberra home, after he arranged for her "posting" in Australia for the "reception and entertainment of guests", has been ordered to pay more than $130,000 compensation.
A tribunal has awarded $236,000 in damages, plus potential further lost earnings and interest, to a long-serving language teacher who developed a psychological injury when his employer "excluded" him from the workplace for two years after he suffered a debilitating spinal stroke.
Optus has again failed to overturn a finding that underpaying workers' long service leave entitlements when they leave might count as a continuing offence under Victorian law, clearing the way for the State's Wage Inspectorate to pursue daily fines that could run into millions for the period before the telco rectified the alleged issue.
A FWC presidential member has taken a harder line on extending notice periods for protected action, rejecting Virgin Australia's bid to increase warnings of strikes and bans from three to seven days, because it would result in diminished worker bargaining power.
