Submissions are due next month on Albanese Government proposals to empower the FWC to set minimum standards and pay rates for those in "employee-like" forms of work, including in the gig economy, and to tackle disputes over contract terms and termination.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt has welcomed agreement between farm groups and unions on the need for a national approach to labour hire regulation rather than the schemes introduced in Labor states such as Queensland and Victoria.
A worker has won an extension of time due to representative error, after her lawyer tried and failed to make an electronic general protections claim to a court just 10 minutes before the deadline, and only re-filed an acceptable application 16 days late.
The looming bargaining round in the Victorian commercial construction sector might be shaping as the first test for the Albanese Government's new tripartite National Construction Industry Forum.
DP World has failed to persuade the FWC that MUA officials should be blocked from attending one-on-one "feedback" meetings with management when members seek their presence.
A senior FWC member accused of trying to intimidate a company director during conciliation, descending into the arena of advocacy and stating that he engaged in sexual harassment has refused to recuse herself from hearing an anti-bullying claim against him.
The Federal Court has rejected a Federal Circuit and Family Court attempt to transfer a university technician's adverse action case because it lacks the resources to hear the claim, which in part argues his PhD activities constituted employment.
The FWC has upheld Sydney Trains' dismissal of a long-serving station manager for breaching its code of conduct when he failed to disclose serious criminal charges, including possession of more than two kilograms of cannabis he claimed to be holding "for a friend".
The ACCC has flagged its willingness to examine no-poaching clauses in employment contracts and to reconsider the long-standing shielding of IR arrangements from competition laws.
