Two newly-incorporated associations of NSW paramedics and nurses want to join a legal challenge to the State's vaccination mandate for health workers, the NSW Supreme Court heard today.
The FWC has upheld the dismissal of an "intransigent" sales employee who declined on "medical" grounds to comply with her employer's lawful and reasonable direction to supply a urine sample for a random drug and alcohol test.
The proportion of employers seeking new hires who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 is rising at a rapid rate, according to a survey of job advertising.
The FWC has upheld the dismissal of two Qantas pilots unable to fly internationally after turning 65, drawing parallels with the tribunal's retirement policy while finding it might have been "considerate" to keep them in the departure lounge while they awaited a move to short-haul.
Unions and employers are embracing the use of rapid antigen testing as it ramps up in some industries, but questions remain around cost, access, administration and how it should fit with other measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission at work.
Qantas has today reported a massive coronavirus-driven net loss of about $1.7 billion for the 2020-21 financial year and has revealed it has now cut 9400 jobs - some 900 more than expected.
The Morrison Government has refused to budge on employer calls to indemnify businesses that encourage workplace vaccinations and to provide federal support for those who mandate inoculations, while AMMA has warned of the looming "elephant in the room".
In an important out-of-hours conduct ruling, the FWC has reinstated a veteran train driver sacked after he told his employer that he faced possible imprisonment for blowing four times over the blood alcohol limit when police breath-tested him on the road.
The FWC has upheld a Qube subsidiary's sacking of a truck driver who blamed a positive blood alcohol reading on sucking on three-quarters of a 10-pack of Anticol cough lozenges to counter a dry throat.
