A FWC full bench says it suspended industrial action afflicting Sydney's rail network partly to give the RTBU's leadership a chance to "re-establish a greater degree of control" amid suggestions some workers have been going rogue in pushing for a more radical approach.
The FWC has overruled an employer's resistance to a working parent's request to work an extra day a fortnight at home to care for his toddler daughter until she reaches two years of age, while rejecting its claims that it would set a precedent for the remainder of its workforce.
A FWC full bench has decided to park its consideration of whether to bring forward the trigger for consultations in model agreement clauses after employers expressed "alarm" at the prospect of requiring it when proposing to introduce a major change rather than when they make a "definite decision".
The FWC has become overly focussed on verifying workers' eligibility for flexible work requests by imposing onerous evidentiary requirements on them, which has limited the effectiveness of its new dispute power, a researcher has told the review panel in her response to its Secure Jobs, Better Pay draft report.
The NSW Government's urgent tandem bid today to pause industrial action that is causing chaos across the Sydney train network will be heard by the FWC in two expedited hearings tomorrow and on Wednesday, while President Adam Hatcher has recommended that unions suspend industrial action to aid a possible resolution.
After Woolworths again delayed backpaying short-changed distribution centre workers, the FWC has recommended the supermarket giant "do all that is necessary to ensure" it pays affected SDA members at the Brisbane distribution centre, by the end of this month.
The ACTU is recommending the FWC include more "practical detail" in its draft "right to disconnect" award term, to "spell out" what the Commission will consider when it determines whether or not a refusal is unreasonable and is also proposing a review in 12 months.
The proposed "right to disconnect" modern award clause is "mostly suitable", but should clarify that the entitlement is a "workplace right" within the meaning of the Fair Work Act's general protections provisions and specify the dispute resolution procedure to follow, an employment and contract law academic says.
In a case that weighs up employer rights when conducting investigations under commonly-used agreement provisions, a FWC full bench has rejected a worker's request for an investigation report that details his alleged misconduct, but has suggested the employer re-open its probe because it denied him natural justice.
The FWC has warned employers against giving "generic and blanket HR answers" when they provide their "reasonable business grounds" for knocking back flexibility requests, before ultimately rejecting a bid from a worker with challenging caring responsibilities to continue working entirely from home.
