Shadow IR Minister Brendan O'Connor has questioned whether industry awards are operating as a "decent safety net" any more, signalling that Labor is looking at ways to change the Fair Work Act to ensure negotiations over workers' wages and conditions are conducted "on a level playing field".
A worker directed to take unpaid leave for mental health treatment has had his unfair dismissal claim rejected after falling "marginally" short of the FWC's jurisdictional prerequisite of a minimum six months' continuous service.
The Federal Government is considering changing the Corporations Act to curb "sharp corporate practices" that could threaten the "integrity and future sustainability" of the the Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme.
An FWC full bench majority has thrown out a a company's challenge to a decision requiring it to reinstate an injured worker to his previous role and ensure he receives "work hardening".
A full Federal Court has described as "astounding" a CFMEU argument that it should not be held liable for organisers' unauthorised entries to building sites because the alleged contraventions should be viewed as an exercise of "power", rather than of a "right" defined by the Fair Work Act.
The FWC has given the go-ahead for the regional director of a multibillion dollar real estate business to pursue his unfair dismissal claim despite earning well above the income cap, because his duties established he was in fact an award-covered sales representative.
The Turnbull Government has quietly withdrawn parental leave legislation that sought remove employers from a mandatory role as "paymasters", prohibit "double dipping" and increase the maximum Government payment to 20 weeks.
In a case that has already forced two managers last year to pay almost $50,000 in profits to their former employer, a full Federal Court has found on appeal that their new employer must also hand over more than $6.2 million in profits earned under their business plan.
The FWC has extended time for an employee who claimed "force majeure" and an "Act of God" after Cyclone Debbie and representative error delayed lodgement of her unfair dismissal application.
