Early adopters Sydney Water and the ASU are again making use of the FWC's New Approaches program in negotiations for a new three-year agreement, providing workers with detailed proposals for conditions and pay rises after four days early this month of "interest-based" assisted talks.
As the FWC calls for submissions on an employer bid to ditch the term "penalty rates" and replace it with "additional remuneration", a senior union-clientele lawyer is warning of a "slippery slope" if recognition of a need to compensate those working unsociable hours is removed.
The Federal Court has ordered a national sales manager to hand over external storage devices to his former employer after a forensic audit of his workplace laptop and email account revealed his secret plan to jump ship and negotiate a move to a competitor.
An FWC full bench has ordered a re-examination of the sacking of a worker for his "nonchalance" towards OHS obligations, lack of contrition after a workplace mishap and failure to wear safety glasses.
Information Commissioner Tim Pilgrim has upheld Australia Post's decision to deny a former worker access to internal documents he sought after allegedly hearing from a HR manager that two senior employees would be disciplined for "inappropriate comments" about him.
The NSW Supreme Court says a deed signed by a former Seven West Media executive assistant restricting any court action to the state jurisdiction was a "powerful factor" in its refusal to transfer her employer's case against her to the Federal Court, where she is pursuing it for adverse action.
