A court has ordered a former HR/OHS coordinator to pay $35,000 in costs after he unreasonably refused substantial offers to resolve an adverse action case against his employer and four managers and made what was "at worst" an extortionate attempt to increase its settlement offer.
The Federal Circuit Court has fined a former 7-Eleven operator more than $154,000 for using a cash-back scheme to circumvent a biometric payroll system introduced by head office to stamp out underpayments.
Thousands of retail and hospitality workers sitting on lower-paying "zombie" deals will revert to their respective awards from early March after the FWC terminated a 2007 agreement for Justin Hemmes' Merivale hospitality company and a 2011 Specialty Fashion Group deal.
The FWC earlier this month halted industrial action at BP's Kwinana oil refinery after it accepted that a shutdown of up to a fortnight would be the "unavoidable and inevitable consequence" of protected bans and limitations by AWU members.
An FWC full bench has issued guidance for the approval of enterprise agreements containing minor errors, finding that employers can give as little as four days' notice of voting and alter the text on template forms as long as workers are not disadvantaged.
A full bench has allowed an employee to challenge his dismissal for refusing to use his employer's fingerprint scanning technology that monitored attendance and tracked shifts, finding the case raises "important, novel and emerging issues".
In a case clarifying when employers must make redundancy payments, the Federal Court has rejected claims by Spotless Services Australia Ltd that it was not obliged to pay severance to three Perth International Airport workers due to an exemption for ordinary and customary turnover of labour.
An ASX-listed mining company has failed to persuade the FWC to terminate a 2011 deal no longer covering workers or an operating mine in order to make reopening viable, the tribunal finding in the interests of enterprise bargaining the company should first try to negotiate with the CFMMEU.
A council's imposition of a seven-month "leave blackout" period in a quest for greater efficiencies has run foul of the FWC, the tribunal finding its failure to consult workers over the policy breached best practice and notification provisions in its agreement.
A senior FWC member has held that an abusive "alt-right" employer unfairly sacked an apprentice for refusing to assist his pursuit of revenge against a former employee, describing the company managing director as having the most deplorable attitude to HR management she had ever encountered.
