In what stands as a tribute to the qualities the FWC looks for in employers' legal representatives, an experienced tribunal member has praised a senior associate for "a masterclass in the art of advocacy" that avoided bamboozling or belittling an unrepresented bus driver.
A Federal Court judge has promised today to rule swiftly on whether Qantas employees stood down due to the coronavirus pandemic can access paid personal (sick) leave, carers' leave and compassionate leave.
The law firm behind a multi-million-dollar class action against labour hire provider One Key Resources and One Key Holdings says it will test the ability of vulnerable workers legislation to hold parent companies to account.
The ACTU's push for paid pandemic leave in the broader health sector could extend to almost 1.6 million workers in the wake of FWC proceedings seeking to include the entitlement in a variety of related awards.
The FWC, in contrasting redundancy decisions delivered on the same day, has agreed to slash the payment a small, pandemic-affected business must make to a worker, but has rejected another employer's bid to do the same for three of its former employees.
The IR system will need to change to deal with challenges arising from the COVID-19 "new normal" of working from home, according to a briefing paper by the Centre for Future Work.
A court has given a publicly-listed veterinary pharmaceutical company the go-ahead to pursue its former chief executive for a significant portion of more than US$400,000 paid to settle assault and s-x discrimination cases brought by two members of its marketing team.
The FWC has called on the ACTU to urgently step in and take the lead on settling disputes between several unions and Qantas over the airline's refusal to pay sick leave to workers stood down due to the coronavirus.
