Economist and former Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission presidential member Joe Isaac has called for a major overhaul of IR laws to restore the power of unions and boost the "authority" of the IR tribunal to drive wages growth.
An employer has been set the challenge of reverse engineering an agreement rejected on the basis it was not genuinely agreed, after the FWC observed that while achievable through undertakings it was nonetheless a "difficult task".
An FWC full bench has quashed a decision not to approve a deal struck between Thiess and three pre-contract employees on the basis it was not genuinely agreed, remitting the Mount Pleasant mine agreement to a single member for redetermination.
In a rare case of an FWC member standing themselves down, a commissioner has found that comments she made about the "vexatious" applicants in a discontinued anti-bullying case could lead observers to question her impartiality when considering a counter anti-bullying application by the original respondent.
In a broad warning to employees mixing social media and work, the FWC has found that a BHP Billiton mineworker was justifiably sacked despite upon realising his error quickly deleting two Facebook posts mistakenly asserting shifts were cancelled.
A February FWC full bench finding that a worker was wrongly denied an extension of time to file on the basis he needed a credible explanation for the entire length of the delay has prompted a bench to overturn another decision refusing more time.
The Flight Attendants Association has successfully claimed a small business exemption from a manager's unfair dismissal claim on the basis elected officials are not employees, the FWC finding that in helping draft a ROC complaint she defied reasonable directions not to discuss the secretary.
The ABCC will continue to take a strict line against the flying of the Eureka and CFMMEU flags on construction sites, despite the Fair Work Commission finding that it does not breach freedom of association.
The FWC has ordered a lawyer to pay half the costs awarded to an unfairly dismissed sales manager, finding he could have saved time and money by revealing on the morning of the hearing that his client would not press jurisdictional objections.
