A FWC full bench has clarified what constitutes "significant" damage to the national economy and when an employer can be considered an "important part" of it, in reasons for overturning the suspension of protected action by sugar industry workers.
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.
Stevedore Qube has failed to persuade the FWC that the MUA is deliberately complicating negotiations for a new Melbourne port deal in the belief that it will get a better result if the matter is arbitrated by the Commission under new Closing Loopholes laws.
MEU members at Batchfire's Callide thermal coal mine in Queensland have overwhelmingly endorsed a protected action ballot, hot on the heels of the FWC's first same-job, same-pay ruling for the site's labour hire workers, who will benefit from any bargaining gains at the site.
Transgrid, the privately-owned operator of the NSW high-voltage electricity network, has won a three-week suspension of protected bans on work defined as a declared incident or emergency.
The FWC has warned employers against giving "generic and blanket HR answers" when they provide their "reasonable business grounds" for knocking back flexibility requests, before ultimately rejecting a bid from a worker with challenging caring responsibilities to continue working entirely from home.
The Federal Court has again intervened to turn down the heat in a continuing bargaining stoush between the CFMEU and the head contractor for Queensland's $7 billion Cross River Rail project, giving the union until Thursday to challenge orders imposing 15-metre no-go zones around sites and prohibiting the filming of workers crossing picket lines.
The FWC has laid bare the difficulty of running what amount to underpayment cases against universities, finding in a union-run matter that not only did the employer have no system in place to reliably record hours but that the tribunal lacked the power to order compensation anyway.
An employer has failed to win a stay on a FWC decision knocking back its request to be represented by a lawyer, which would have delayed an underpayments case, after a senior member found its agreement only allows representation for those initiating disputes.
