The "obvious impracticability" of sanitising a koala helped to justify a pandemic-affected wildlife sanctuary's decision to make redundant a worker responsible for co-ordinating photographs of visitors holding its main attraction, the FWC has found.
The importance of 'choice versus direction' in determining whether employees are working or not has been highlighted in an FWC decision considering the case of boat masters and crew having their unpaid meal breaks interrupted to assist passengers on multi-day dive trips.
A meatworker is suing his employer for more than $125,000 as part of an adverse action claim that it took him off knife-work and reduced his position because he sought to recoup years of alleged underpayments.
A major employer has failed to apply the correct award in seeking approval for a new enterprise agreement covering two businesses, the FWC noting an HR manager involved in bargaining had "little to no knowledge" of the work performed by employees.
The CFMMEU has been refused permission to appeal the approval of a labour hire company's deal on the basis the black coal award incorporated in the predecessor agreement did not allow for casual production and engineering workers, a majority FWC bench finding it possible the provision's absence was "simply overlooked" by the employer.
As the FSU and Travel Money Oz head to conciliation next Thursday over claims that the currency exchange business owes workers for unpaid overtime including attendance at "buzz nights", the parties are already at loggerheads over award coverage.
Three actors in a government-commissioned theatre production have failed to convince a court that they were employees engaged on "sham" contracts, rather than independent contractors.
As the SDA prepares to take a proposed deal to Woolworths workers, its rival union is backing a store supervisor's application to terminate the retailer's 2012 national agreement and claw back $1 billion in alleged underpayments.
