A mining equipment manufacturer that admitted to wrongly sacking a warehouse worker for failing to comply with a government COVID-19 vaccine mandate that did not apply to her must pay more than $33,000 compensation, after the FWC slashed her payout by half.
BCA chief executive Jennifer Westacott has called on business leaders to approach the upcoming jobs summit with a view to recreating a "high wage, high productivity" economy, describing the past decade as "the worst for growth in living standards since the Great Depression".
The ACTU has called for employers to "step up" ahead of the forecast peak in COVID-19 numbers by providing leave at full pay for workers who need to isolate or quarantine and distributing free rapid antigen tests to all employees.
The FWC has reinstated a senior Virgin flight attendant accused of tardiness, stealing snacks, sleeping and watching a movie while on duty, finding pandemic-driven loads on HR delayed the airline's investigation and contributed to procedural fairness deficiencies.
The FWC has rejected a CFMMEU bid to determine a stand-down dispute in favour of an unvaccinated concreter who has largely gone unpaid for the past year while he continues to refuse to comply with his employer's direction to be inoculated against COVID-19.
The bid by Qantas to overturn a Federal Court ruling that it took unlawful adverse action against its former ground crew employees argues that some of the Fair Work Act's protected workplace rights are "time bound".
The Federal Court has this afternoon thrown out the latest challenge to COVID-19 public health orders, observing that whatever else the applicant's case lacked, it did not lack ambition.
In a decision reinstating a Regional Express pilot who missed a COVID-19 vaccination deadline, the FWC has expressed sympathy for the airline's "beleaguered HR staff", despite finding the sacking procedurally flawed.
The FWC has upheld Australia Post's sacking of a long-time employee who ignored directions not to return to a client's workplace after complaints he was spreading COVID-19 conspiracy theories.
