The FWC has ruled that an employee working in Saudi Arabia for a company based in that country has "no greater connection to Australia than employees in foreign lands sewing bikinis that will then be sold in Australian retail stores to women who will wear them on Bondi Beach".
More than half of respondents to an "ethical bystander" survey witnessed s-xual or gender-based harassment in the previous 12 months, and more than a quarter several times a year, according to Unions NSW's new Ready, Willing, Unable report.
The gender pay gap has narrowed by 0.7 percentage points to 21.1% over the past 12 months, driven by a larger increase in women's average base salary (up $3,419 or 4%) than achieved by men ($2,895 or 2.8%), the annual WGEA Gender Equality Scorecard reveals.
The FWC has upheld the dismissal of long-serving AFL umpire and coach Frank Kalayzich, who claimed to be the victim of HR bias and a CCTV footage "ambush" after he manhandled a jogger at North Sydney Oval and frog-marched him to the exit gate.
New federal legislation will create a pathway for employers to pay historical debts related to unpaid portable long service leave levies, following two full Federal Court decisions that clarified the eligibility of employees in the black coal industry.
A FWC full bench has upheld a $60,000-plus payout to a worker sacked after refusing to take a breath test, rejecting an employer's claim that the umpire unfairly denied its HR manager a chance to give evidence.
Unions have doubled down on objections to an Australian Industry Group draft working-from-home clause proposed for the clerks award, claiming it will create a two-tiered system, confound both employers and workers and violates new penalty rates protections.
The Federal Court has found that disputes about same-job, same-pay protected rates should come before the FWC in the first instance, while it has agreed to stay court proceedings until the Commission determines a SJSP dispute involving Workpac on-hire workers at a Queensland coal mine.
Racing Victoria has failed to persuade the FWC to hold off considering its chief veterinarian's claims that it pressured her to declare horses fit to race, a member noting that while the case had "substantial overlap" with an adverse action matter initiated in the Federal Court, they would move at different paces and address different questions.
