An FWC full bench has confirmed that the Australian Government Solicitor can "as a matter of right" represent all federal agencies, including commissions, in the tribunal, without having to seek permission.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a worker for pressuring a colleague to join the AMWU after a "balanced and meticulous" external investigation found his actions amounted to bullying.
The ACTU is preparing to train affiliates to comply with the more stringent governance requirements under the Turnbull Government's rules for registered organisations, as the new regulator develops plans to increase awareness of protections for reprisals against whistleblowers - which extend to imprisonment.
Fair Work Commission President Iain Ross has given parties involved in the domestic violence leave case one week to provide submissions in response to the full bench's preliminary view that affected employees should have access to unpaid leave.
While stopping short of categorising a long-time Esso employee who worked overseas as an on-hire worker, an FWC full bench has found that his failure to secure a "substantive" role with the company on return to Australia meant he could not rely on an industry award to protect him from unfair dismissal.
The FWC has rejected a claim that a Bunnings Warehouse supervisor bullied an employee when she asked him about his "deformities", but not before criticising the HR department's handling of the worker's complaint.
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.
