In a significant ruling on what constitutes a "genuine" effort to reach agreement while bargaining, a FWC full bench has upheld a member's decision to grant a PABO to a union, despite it having met with the employer only once by the time its application came before the tribunal.
A FWC member has refused to be drawn into a dispute between a private rail freight operator and the RTBU over whether a remote locality allowance should be calculated on travel by road or "as the crow flies", concluding that she could not disentangle conflicting versions about its inclusion in an agreement.
WA's Cook Labor Government has introduced legislation to lift casual loading from 20% to 25%, give some workers an enforceable right to request flexibility, and empower the IRC to discipline industrial agents, but it continues to lag on portable LSL.
A Federal Court judge has dealt a blow to three workers' pursuit of an embassy over alleged sham contracts, closely examining the "dignity, immunities and privileges of foreign States under Australian law" before overturning a lower court's rejection of attempts to bin the case.
A FWC senior member has warned Virgin Australia pilots that if they reject a recommended offer, including what the TWU says is a "historic" pay boost of up to 21% over three years and a sign-on bonus, it will create "further uncertainty and prevent substantive pay increases" for all.
South Australia's Malinauskas Government is likely to soon secure passage of legislation establishing a portable long service leave scheme for the community services sector, with potential to build on it to include other sectors in future.
The Federal Court this Friday will hear the HSU's urgent interlocutory application to put its Victorian No 1 branch into administration, after the union filed claims that branch leader Diana Asmar threatened to kill, sack and expose an employee who allegedly blew the whistle on her alleged misappropriation of funds.
A full Federal Court has overturned a ruling that Sydney Trains unlawfully discriminated against a trainee driver it sacked for failing to disclose that she had ADHD and autism, finding a judge relied on a "number of interrelated assumptions" unsupported by evidence.
The FWC has extended time for a worker's one-day-late unfair dismissal claim, finding his employer's "misleading" letter confirming his sacking resulted in his representative miscalculating the deadline.
