Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has criticised a law firm that experienced a coronavirus outbreak for refusing to allow employees to work from home, as Melbourne prepares for an inspection blitz in response to workplaces emerging as the key transmission point for the hundreds of daily cases.
The "obvious impracticability" of sanitising a koala helped to justify a pandemic-affected wildlife sanctuary's decision to make redundant a worker responsible for co-ordinating photographs of visitors holding its main attraction, the FWC has found.
In a significant ruling on the standing of independent contractors, a full Federal Court has upheld an appeal by two truck drivers pursuing unpaid leave and superannuation entitlements after working exclusively for a multinational company for almost 40 years.
The major iron miner Fortescue Metals has called for the income tax exemption ceiling for employee share schemes to be lifted from $1000 to $5000, arguing the cap is too low to provide a "meaningful incentive".
BHP's attempt to win approval of two enterprise deals to entrench an in-house labour hire company that now employs more than 2000 workers across its mining operations has been dealt a major blow by an FWC full bench majority, which has ruled that its failure to properly explain pay arrangements meant the workforce did not genuinely agree.
The FWC has upheld the "scrupulously fair" sacking of a second-in-charge installation worker over multiple safety breaches, including some so fundamental he should not have needed training to prevent them.
The FWC has rejected a Tasmanian produce company's bid to avoid paying redundancy entitlements due to a "paucity" of evidence that it cannot pay and faces insolvency after a 100% coronavirus-related revenue hit.
Procedural flaws in a worker's summary dismissal on Melbourne Cup day did not outweigh the seriousness of having invited the theft of a company vehicle by leaving the keys in the ignition, the FWC has found.
An employer has won permission to have a legal representative defend an unfair dismissal case in the face of opposition from a sacked former employee who failed to disclose he is a highly-experienced lawyer disbarred after a conviction for s-xual assault.
