The future of a joint union equal pay claim for childcare workers is hanging in the balance after an FWC full bench was yesterday left searching for "real world" scenarios establishing metalworkers as a suitable comparator.
The ETU has declared a major payday for more than 4000 Queensland apprentices it claims are owed $70 million in underpayments after a full Federal Court today held that an old State award that continued to dictate their pay was superseded three years ago.
The FWC has confirmed the retention of existing Sunday penalty rates for restaurant workers, a full bench noting employers' inability to muster persuasive evidence to support claims cuts would boost jobs.
The concept of the "farm gate" is virtual rather than physical in the horticultural sector, an FWC full bench has found in a coverage decision it backdated by eight years to ensure employers are not exposed to backpay claims.
Two companies that claimed they acted on legal advice from the Australian Industry Group have been fined almost $25,000 for refusing to allow a CFMEU official entry to a building site.
Coalition senators, in a new Senate inquiry report, have rejected concerns about the "ensuring integrity" bill that introduces a public interest test for union mergers, while minority Labor and Greens senators have dismissed the legislation as "politically-driven" and "politically-motivated".
ACTU secretary Sally McManus told a hearing in Melbourne today that the Federal Government’s "ensuring integrity" legislation would impose harsher standards and punishments on unions and their officials than the Corporations Act does to employers.
A full Federal Court has reserved judgment on the union application to quash the Fair Work Commission ruling to cut weekend penalty rates in the retail and hospitality sectors.
The ACTU has taken aim at the proposed public interest test for union amalgamations, saying there is no basis for the Turnbull Government's claim that it is the equivalent of the competition test for corporate mergers.
The FWC's minimum wage panel has decided against holding a preliminary hearing to consider new research on the budget required to sustain a healthy lifestyle, after the proposal only won support from Catholic employers.
