Complaints to the Queensland Human Rights Commission are up by 60%, with an average of 47 arriving each week, partly driven by assistance from artificial intelligence, while employment-related complaints are up by 42%.
A senior Commonwealth Bank employee failed to disclose his connection with a mortgage broker, defied the employer's bans on using WeChat and his personal mobile phone to arrange home loans and then paraded "a chaotic collection of lies, nonsense, poorly matched ideas, and manufactured responses" in his doomed unfair dismissal case in the FWC.
The FWC has rejected the United Firefighters Union's claim that its history of disputes with a government employer's IR advisor meant he could not impartially investigate serious misconduct allegations against a member.
An employer has withdrawn from a multi-employer supported bargaining authorisation covering a group of Victorian disability service providers after making significant changes to its business model.
A FWC presidential member has likened the Fair Work Act's unfair deactivation provisions to a 1993 movie that is a popular culture symbol of endless, pointless repetition, saying the excessively complex laws clash with the statutory mandate for the tribunal to perform its functions in a manner that is "quick, informal and avoids unnecessary technicalities".
A FWC full bench has upheld an order for an employee to pay the maximum amount of costs permitted under the Fair Work Regulations, after he unreasonably "persisted" with his unfair dismissal claim despite knowing he did not meet the qualifying period, due to his misguided reliance on artificial intelligence.
The FWC has found an agreement does not entitle workers to redundancy pay if they are unable to obtain or refuse to obtain a newly-required high level security clearance.
The NTEU says a neurodiversity clause in a medical research institute's proposed agreement represents a "cultural shift" in how workplaces provide support, committing to a proactive, low-burden approach that will not necessarily require employees to obtain an official diagnosis.
The AWU and CFMEU have made "significant progress" in their long-standing demarcation disputes with the assistance of a former FWC member, while the FWC has protocols in place to prevent Commissioner Jennifer Hunt and Vice President Ingrid Asbury from attending the tribunal's Brisbane office at the same time, tribunal officers told a Senate Estimates hearing yesterday.
Reservations about a neuroscientist's "candour" have not stopped a court from agreeing to hear his late application alleging Australia's leading brain research institute forced him to resign after he raised concerns about funding expenditure, while he at the same time defends claims that he "misused" confidential information.
