The Federal Court has ordered a Tasmanian hotel group to pay a $170,000 penalty, after finding it engaged in deliberate, reprehensible conduct when it applied duress in a bid to force vulnerable employees to sign AWAs that cut their pay.
Employers are using template non-union collective agreements under Work Choices to strip away conditions and cut pay by up to 18% in retail and 12% in hospitality, according to comprehensive analysis released today by the Workplace Research Centre.
Victoria Police and the state Police Association have today agreed in principle to a settlement of the state's long-running pay dispute, but both sides differed on the full extent of wage rises under the new enterprise agreement.
The MEAA and CPSU have struck a new three-year enterprise deal that will boost paid parental leave and deliver a first year pay rise of 3% plus a $850 sign-on bonus to about 1,300 Channel Seven employees.
Australia Post strike ballot to go ahead, as employer pays 4% unilaterally; AIRC refuses ALAEA ballot application; Victoria Police seeks s496 order; Annual leave and sick leave couldn’t be bought out under Labor: Gillard; New ACTU tv commercial features dismissed Priceline employee; and Another pop culture blow for Work Choices.
A Telstra worker sacked for allegedly damaging and stealing a security camera will have to pay costs that might exceed $50,000, after the AIRC found his unfair dismissal case was “manifestly untenable or groundless”.
The Workplace Ombudsman won’t be taking any action against WorkDirections - the employment services company owned by Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd’s wife – after an audit revealed workers have been paid correctly in recent months.
IR/HR practitioners have given Work Choices a very mixed score-card, reporting that it has given employees some initial work/life benefits but expecting that balance will deteriorate over time; finding it has increased direct communication but also that it has increased paperwork and reliance on legal advice; and split over whether the legislation encourages or discourages their organisations from taking on new workers.
