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.
A new protected ballot agent seed-funded by the ACTU has won FWC approval, after establishing that it has taken steps to separate itself from the union peak body, which is seeking to give unions a fair and low-cost alternative to existing providers.
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.
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.
