Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has made three new deputy president appointments to the Fair Work Commission - two with a strong resource sector employer background and the third from employer clientele law firm Seyfarth Shaw.
The FWC has refused to take the "extraordinary step" of temporarily restraining an employer from appointing an employee to fill the role of an allegedly bullied worker.
An FWC full bench has granted an employee who mistakenly lodged a general protections application instead of an unfair dismissal claim an extension of time because the Commission should have used its discretion to rectify the mistake.
The FWC is running a trial until the end of the year of holding conferences and hearings on Thursday nights and Saturdays, with priority to be given to matters involving small businesses.
The FWC has found a vessel operator's decision to sack an experienced captain for breaching its zero-tolerance alcohol policy was harsh in the circumstances, arguing that it bore some responsibility for unresolved matters that affected his mental health and could have imposed less punitive penalties.
The CFMEU's mining and energy division has welcomed an FWC ruling not to allow the spread of casual workers in the black coal mining industry, vowing to resist future "attacks" on award conditions.
As union members protest outside the FWC in Perth today against Murdoch University's application to terminate its 2014 enterprise agreement, the tribunal is expected to rule on the employer's bid to have the case heard behind closed doors.
The main protagonists have landed their last blows ahead of Sunday penalty rate cuts coming into effect this weekend, United Voice calling on restaurant and pub patrons to pressure bosses over whether they value their staff, while AiG insists that July 1's parallel "hefty" minimum wage rise not only sees workers better off, but saddles employers with bigger wage bills.
