The FWC has taken the unusual step of allowing an employer's HR manager on behalf of workers to sign off on an agreement not backed by the CFMEU's construction division, after accepting evidence that employees were "reluctant" to put their names to the deal.
The majority privately-owned operator of NSW's high-voltage electricity network and unions have until next Monday to agree on terms for a new agreement before handing matters over to a FWC full bench to resolve any outstanding issues via an intractable bargaining determination.
A NDIS provider has refuted allegations it took unlawful adverse action by sacking a worker because of her autism spectrum disorder, with a FWC consent arbitration finding her efforts to rescue a dog and dispose of a client's medication exceeded the scope of her duties.
The FWC has terminated, at the request of CFMEU divisional leader Zach Smith, a Victorian construction deal signed-off by a company director convicted but later acquitted of a "gangland" murder.
An environmental consultancy fluffed its summary dismissal of a technician for alleged timesheet fraud when it had a watertight case to sack him for poor performance, the FWC has found.
Under-fire HSU branch leader Diana Asmar has been ordered not to use union funds to cover the costs of defending FWC allegations that she received "cashbacks" and unwarranted reimbursements, while also being directed to provide undertakings not to initiate any further reprisals against three officials who maintain that the branch no longer operates effectively.
A FWC presidential member has suggested policymakers give greater consideration to recognising the "industrial qualifications" of migrant workers after ruling an employer unfairly dismissed a factory hand when it made him redundant without consultation due to his unsuccessful attempts to obtain an Australian forklift licence.
The use of rolling fixed-term contracts in the tertiary education sector is set to come under close scrutiny by a FWC full bench, while the tribunal has also moved ahead with its review of two arts sector awards in the wake of its inconclusive "targeted" examination of modern awards.
The TWU has filed the last of its promised applications aimed at overhauling standards in the road transport industry, asking the FWC to make a contractual chain order imposing 30-day payment deadlines and compulsory rate reviews, while prohibiting unfair "set-off" terms.
A senior FWC member has highlighted a labour hire "dilemma" raising "obvious policy issues for government", while finding an employer did not dismiss a worker who alleged he had been sacked for taking medical marijuana.
