A ban on smoking in the workplace has survived a union challenge after the Fair Work Commission found the policy reasonable because the employer had taken steps to consult with employees and offered support to help them quit.
A worker with a "dismissive" attitude to OHS who breached his employer's zero alcohol tolerance policy has been compensated because a previous warning was too severe.
A welder's claims that he was "fine" after bingeing on 20 cans of full-strength beer over 12 hours on Australia Day before facing a random breath test at work has failed to impress FWC member Danny Cloghan, who says it "would be greeted with that very Australian saying relating to animal manure".
Workers on the Gorgon LNG project will begin voting on Wednesday on whether to take industrial action to push head contractor CB&I to offer shorter roster cycles, at the same time as parliamentary inquiries in WA and Queensland have weighed-up whether new regulations are needed for non-residential workforces.
A FWC full bench has rejected a sacked Qantas pilot's argument that spiking of his drink meant he couldn't be held responsible for s-xually assaulting a female flight crew member during a stopover in Chile.
The CFMEU's construction division says a major builder has already offered to roll out its new drug and alcohol policy across its sites, just hours after announcing it.
Employers are likely to rely more heavily on zero tolerance drug and alcohol policies to discipline or dismiss employees, even when there is no evidence of impairment, after an important full Federal Court ruling yesterday.
