A major employer has for the second time in a year been ordered to reinstate a worker after the FWC again identified fatal flaws in its investigation processes.
The FWC has laid bare the difficulty of running what amount to underpayment cases against universities, finding in a union-run matter that not only did the employer have no system in place to reliably record hours but that the tribunal lacked the power to order compensation anyway.
An employer has failed to win a stay on a FWC decision knocking back its request to be represented by a lawyer, which would have delayed an underpayments case, after a senior member found its agreement only allows representation for those initiating disputes.
An organisation that supports members of the Stolen Generation did not have a reasonable basis for dismissing a worker for alleged "cultural insensitivity", but other conduct would have justified her sacking if it followed a proper process, the FWC has ruled.
The FWC has urged the AWU to address its unfair dismissal claim lodgement processes after the union revealed its use of an internal case management system has again played a role in an out-of-time application.
The FWC has refused to reallocate a Nepalese worker's general protections case to a "non-white/Aboriginal to decide", after he argued it would ensure a fair trial.
Wilson Security unlawfully denied a FIFO guard proper breaks within roster cycles and made him work an extra 15 unpaid minutes for "handover" at the start of each shift, a court has held, but a manager who reinforced the requirement was not an accessory.
Unions locked in the Wilmar Sugar dispute say they have held over an urgent application to stay a ban on protected action, ahead of a FWC full bench appeal on Friday.
In a decision an employer argues has "substantial" implications for most businesses, Fire & Rescue NSW has been ordered to pay a health and safety representative for time spent conducting unapproved inspections on his days off.
The CFMEU will seek to overturn a recent legal representation ruling, maintaining the FWC got it wrong when it allowed a construction company to have both a barrister and a paid agent appear on its behalf.
