In a significant ruling on dismissals deemed harsh by the FWC, a full bench has endorsed the "unorthodox" approach taken by a member who ordered the reinstatement of a forklift driver who breached an employer's "no mobile phones" policy.
Mining unions have failed to convince a senior FWC member that BHP's vaccination mandate breaches the Privacy Act and that it would be reasonable to let workers confirm their inoculation status via the same check-in method they use to enter a pub.
A compliance manager with the local arm of technology giant Lenovo claims in an adverse action case that after setting her up for failure, its India-based HR director investigated her bullying complaint and came back with a finding that is invalid under Australian law, but the company has dismissed the claims as "meritless".
The Federal Court has today thrown out an urgent interlocutory bid to stop Qantas Group dismissing more than 20 employees who failed to meet its mid-November vaccination deadline.
Tasmania's government and NGOs - including unions - have united in opposition to the proposed Religious Discrimination Bill because of provisions that override "gold standard" State anti-discrimination legislation that protects LGBTIQ+ employees in faith-based workplaces.
An employer unfairly sacked a labourer for running over a pet galah, the FWC has held, rejecting claims that he breached a formal directive not to operate vehicles when Crackers was on the ground.
The FSU is suing the Commonwealth Bank in the Federal Court for allegedly denying retail banking employees 10-minute rest breaks, claiming it owes at least $45 million in backpay to about 3000 workers.
The FWC has rejected two unions' competing scope order applications for BHP Operations Services production and maintenance entities, finding that granting their bids would not resolve the key blockage - the company's determination to offer barebones safety net deals rather than comprehensive ones.
National Cabinet has today decided against reducing isolation periods for coronavirus-positive workers from seven days to five, while it has also abandoned plans to allow under-18s to drive forklifts, as governments continue to discuss ways to ameliorate worker shortages in the supply chain.
