Coles, the SDA and the AWU have today asked an FWC full bench to refuse the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union permission to appear on behalf of two employees seeking to intervene in an application to terminate the supermarket giant's 2011 enterprise agreement.
Chemist Warehouse's announcement that it won't cut Sunday penalty rates for existing employees has received muted acclaim from the union representing pharmacists, Professionals Australia, which accuses the company of having "sold out" its future workforce.
The FWC has determined that Woolworths was justified in sacking a petrol station employee for refusing to hand over money and cigarettes to a "difficult" customer, who then walked off without paying for a Dare iced coffee and spinach ricotta roll.
A Senate Committee's call for a target date for full gender pay equity has been seized upon by the union pursuing a four-year long equal-remuneration case before the FWC, but found little support from business or Government members on the Labor-dominated committee.
The FWC has issued an interim anti-bullying order restraining the co-owner of a tyre business and his employee nephew from communicating with or being within 10 metres of each other, noting that a separate court order for the nephew not to commit "family violence" against his uncle had done little to improve a combative workplace atmosphere.
Expanding on its theme that the wages system is "broken", the ACTU will seek to change workplace laws so workers and unions can bargain "where the power is" across industries and franchised employers, rather than being limited to the enterprise level.
The FWC has acknowledged its phone system may flummox workers from non-English speaking backgrounds, allowing a "technologically illiterate" cleaner to challenge her dismissal despite filing her application two days' late.
The FWC has confirmed it has no authority to handle disputes about flexible workplace arrangements rejected by employers on "reasonable business grounds" unless specifically empowered to do so by an agreement.
The Fair Work Commission today conceded that inflated concerns about the impact of minimum wage increases on employment may have led to it being "overly cautious" in past rulings.
The Fair Work Commission has this morning granted award-reliant workers a 3.3% increase, lifting the national minimum wage by $22.20 a week or 59 cents an hour in this year's annual wage review ruling.
