Agencies in the Australian Public Service need to streamline their recruitment processes to reduce the "excessive" average time of 88 days taken to hire new employees, according to Australian Public Service Commissioner Lynelle Briggs.
An employer who dropped his trousers and discussed sexual matters at work has been ordered to pay $3,000 to compensate a female marketing employee for offence and embarrassment.
AWA lodgements surged to a new high in November, seemingly lending credence to union claims that employers are rushing to lock in the individual deals before the Rudd Government abolishes them. The flood of AWAs has worsened the Workplace Authority's backlog, which has now reached almost 150,000 agreements and on current trends won't be cleared until at least the third quarter of 2008.
The NSW Supreme Court has today ordered a sacked project manager to pay $1.65m in damages plus legal costs to his former employer and three of its directors for sending defamatory emails to the company and to the World Bank.
Transport giant Toll has lost an appeal against a tribunal ruling that it pay $25,000 in damages for racial discrimination against a Muslim former employee who was called "bombchucker" and "Osama Bin Laden" by work colleagues.
An employer who indirectly discriminated against an injured mechanic by dismissing him when he was on indefinite sick leave has been ordered to pay him $4,418 in compensation.
The SDA says a successful unlawful dismissal case that took 18 months and cost $50,000 highlights the injustice of the Work Choices unfair dismissal regime for workers in companies employing fewer than 100 employees, and underlines the need for the incoming Rudd Government to immediately reintroduce a "fair and balanced" system.
Qantas and its 3,000 long-haul flight attendants have secured a new five-year union agreement that substantially reduces employment costs for new cabin crew, opening the way for 2,000 new onshore jobs, while improving conditions for existing employees.
The ASU is likely to recommend members accept a new bargaining offer from Qantas for 3% annual pay rises after the airline withdrew some of its key demands, including on the classification of E-check-in hosts, unrestricted use of casuals and temporary staff, abolishing RDOs for IT employees, and reducing minimum part-time hours.
The AIRC has awarded a former NSW State Rail Authority employee 20 weeks' pay in compensation for her unfair dismissal on medical grounds, despite finding she was "aggressive, belligerent and obstructive" and that her conduct might have warranted sacking for misconduct.
