The ACTU is recommending the FWC include more "practical detail" in its draft "right to disconnect" award term, to "spell out" what the Commission will consider when it determines whether or not a refusal is unreasonable and is also proposing a review in 12 months.
The proposed "right to disconnect" modern award clause is "mostly suitable", but should clarify that the entitlement is a "workplace right" within the meaning of the Fair Work Act's general protections provisions and specify the dispute resolution procedure to follow, an employment and contract law academic says.
The FWC has extended time for a worker's unfair dismissal claim by 24 days because his employer, which "flouted its legal employment obligations and ignored the FWO", withheld his payslips and employment contract, preventing him from identifying the entity that employed him.
The FWC has granted a worker a one day extension for his unfair dismissal claim due to the merits of his case, after he alleged his employer summarily dismissed him for a positive drug test taken during a period of annual leave, when its zero tolerance policy would not apply.
In a case that weighs up employer rights when conducting investigations under commonly-used agreement provisions, a FWC full bench has rejected a worker's request for an investigation report that details his alleged misconduct, but has suggested the employer re-open its probe because it denied him natural justice.
Four weeks ahead of employees winning a legislated right to disconnect, public service employers have been told they will need to train HR professionals and managers about the interaction of the new entitlement with general protections laws and consider updating job descriptions to ensure they "accurately reflect" expectations about after-hours contact.
The Federal Government will intervene to back the MEU's bid in the FWC for same-job, same-pay orders to require BHP's in-house labour hire arm to pay the same rates as its direct workers at the company's Bowen Basin coal mines, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced today.
The FWC has ruled that just as a dismissal only takes effect when it is communicated to the worker, a resignation can equally only apply when the employer becomes aware of it.
A Macquarie University academic says Medibank employees trialling a four-day "100:80:100" working week are performing better and feeling more motivated, while productivity is unchanged, with some indicating they would choose an employer based on whether the option is available.
Australia can learn from the "disappointing" under-utilisation of Spain's groundbreaking menstrual leave entitlement during its first year, due to fear of discrimination at work and the limitations of its model, according to an employment lawyer.
