The FWC has called on employers to introduce a greater range of disciplinary options like fines and unpaid suspensions into agreements to avoid "inappropriately lenient or inappropriately harsh" responses to misconduct that are problematic for all parties concerned.
Contested-facts dismissal case should have gone to hearing: Bench; Member's "significant error" in considering legal representation; FWC rejects employer's costs bid in Coty "ugly emails" case.
A Senate inquiry has recommended passage of a bill that scraps mandatory four-yearly award review and has backed the FWC's proposal to backdate provisions allowing the tribunal to correct minor errors in bargaining notices.
Shadow IR Minister Brendan O'Connor has questioned whether industry awards are operating as a "decent safety net" any more, signalling that Labor is looking at ways to change the Fair Work Act to ensure negotiations over workers' wages and conditions are conducted "on a level playing field".
A worker directed to take unpaid leave for mental health treatment has had his unfair dismissal claim rejected after falling "marginally" short of the FWC's jurisdictional prerequisite of a minimum six months' continuous service.
An FWC full bench majority has thrown out a a company's challenge to a decision requiring it to reinstate an injured worker to his previous role and ensure he receives "work hardening".
An FWC full bench has lifted confidentiality orders on a fiery dispute between the UFU and Melbourne's Metropolitan Fire Board over a firefighter's allegedly offensive Facebook comments, finding that parties to the dispute must accept the consequences of open justice regardless of any embarrassment that might ensue.
The FWC has asked the Coalition to consider backdating its legislation to give the tribunal discretion to correct minor errors in bargaining notices, after a new regulation designed to reduce defects appears to have made things worse.
The Fair Work Commission will get just over $74 million in funding under the 2017-18 federal budget — a 5% cut — as it loses some functions to the new Registered Organisations Commission.
