Victoria has moved closer to becoming the third state to regulate the labour hire industry after legislation last week reached the upper house, where the government needs to secure the votes of two of the five minor party members.
The legislative tension between state and federal union rules has been highlighted after a tribunal dismissed an expelled official's bid for reinstatement on the basis that it lacked the jurisdiction to give orders or directions to a national body.
In a landmark ruling, the FWC has held that Carter Holt Harvey employees did not accrue annual or long service leave during a 74-day lockout last year.
Employers who defy orders to pay superannuation to their employees will face jail terms of up to 12 months under draft legislation unveiled today by the Turnbull Government.
Two new information sheets issued by the Registered Organisations Commission spell out the penalties for reprisals against whistleblowers and details of looming benefits disclosure requirements for bargaining representatives.
An Uber driver's failure to convince the FWC that he is an employee is unlikely to deter other challenges according to an academic, while the case raises questions as to whether traditional legal tests can be applied to the gig economy.
The ramifications of recent legislative changes requiring employers to disprove employees' records of hours worked in wage claim cases have been spelt out in a court decision imposing penalties of more than $120,000 on a company and its director for underpaying an apprentice.
South Australia's Weatherill Labor Government will continue to push for national laws regulating labour hire, even though the state this week passed its own laws.
The ballots of MUA and TCFU members to determine whether they support amalgamation with the CFMEU closed today with a high turnout for an internal union vote.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said last night that she made an offer to the Opposition to split-off into a separate Bill elements of the "four-yearly review" legislation that enable the FWC to overlook technical and minor errors in agreements, after tribunal president Iain Ross twice wrote asking her to urgently secure its passage.
