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.
The FWC has in a book-length decision questioned a former Young Australian Of The Year's wisdom in pursuing an unfair dismissal case that shed light on "potential" fraud committed against the homeless people's charity she founded.
The High Court has timetabled the crucial Rossato case, is about to hear a special leave bid by academic Peter Ridd, and is being asked to entertain union challenges to Qantas interpretations of obligations under JobKeeper and the Fair Work Act's stand down provisions.
The Federal Court has approved the $2.05 million settlement of a $65 million class action against marketing agency Appco after finding that further attempts to increase the sum would "likely be a case of throwing good money after bad".
Aldi has again failed to rein-in the TWU over its long-running "safe rates" campaign, with a full Federal Court confirming that the union is not constrained by consumer law prohibitions on misleading or deceptive conduct.
Macquarie Bank's HR department designed a defective pay system that a competent IR lawyer would have quickly identified, the Federal Circuit Court has held in fining the bank $330,000 on top of $1.3 million in compensation owing to wealth advisors.
Before entering into a private settlement with a food delivery worker accusing Uber Eats of unfair dismissal, the company has told a full Federal Court that delivery "partners" are free to negotiate lower fees and abandon meals after collecting them.
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.
