A FWC presidential member has refused an Aldi bid to stay the FWC's first use of powers to unilaterally amend proposed agreements, observing that while the retailer has arguable appeal grounds, a bench should have the chance to weigh a final decision rather than risk the prospect of multiple intervening challenges.
The FWC has awarded more than $30,000 compensation to a "difficult" former Services Australia worker who should have been "given space" to restore his mental health before he resigned.
An employer has been ordered to provide an external investigation report to a sacked worker after the FWC found that it waived legal privilege by revealing too many details in a letter outlining the results.
A FWC presidential member has recused himself from re-hearing an agreement variation case after observing that a bystander, "recognising human frailty", might appreciate his disinclination to reach different conclusions based on the same set of facts.
The FWC has rejected an AMWU bid to bargain for a standalone agreement for maintenance workers at BHP's WA iron ore operations, saying any negotiation difficulties are due to the "brevity" and "paucity" of meetings and not that BHP has focused too much on its larger production worker population.
A "high-stakes" case set to test whether State workplace protections extend to independent contractors under the Fair Work Act has been set down for a three-week trial beginning in May, after Federal Court Chief Justice Debra Mortimer agreed that having enough time to assess witnesses is "critical" in such proceedings.
The FWC's approach to assessing flexible work disputes is potentially undermining workers' rights to plan ahead, an academic has warned, after the tribunal held that a Sydney Water employee could not make such a request in the lead-up to his 55th birthday, and found a father ineligible until he finalised his custody arrangement.
As a leading employer-clientele lawyer hosed down fears about WFH "chaos" in the wake of the recent Chandler decision, the Greens have introduced legislation giving employees the right to work remotely for at least two days a week unless fulfilling their roles is "impractical or impossible".
A Coalition private senator's bill sold as tackling the retirement savings gender gap is a ruse that "will allow already very wealthy Australians to funnel even more of their wealth into their super", according to the Greens, while Labor damned it for "empower[ing] the generationally wealthy".
FWC President Adam Hatcher has departed from RTAG advice in scheduling a truck driver's bid to vary the long distance road transport award ahead of hearings from the middle of next year to deal with four key TWU gig food/beverage delivery, last-mile delivery minimum standards and road transport contractual chain cases.
