It would have been "sensible" for a worker to take up the "generous support" offered by his employer, rather than filing an "unwarranted" anti-bullying claim, the FWC has ruled, finding a performance management plan, letter of expectations and a warning amounted to reasonable management action.
Unprotected industrial action undermines collective negotiations because it is "directly contrary" to the Fair Work Act's bargaining regime, Deputy President Gerard Boyce has held in his reasons for finding the UWU's "unlawful" picketing of Woolworths distribution centres breached its good faith bargaining obligations.
After a 17-day strike and continued picketing on Saturday despite FWC orders, workers at four Woolworths warehouses have voted up a revised offer, with pay rises of 10.5% to 12% over three years, and safeguards to ensure the company does not use a work-speed measurement tool to automatically discipline workers.
Woolworths has today made an urgent application seeking that the FWC make orders to halt striking UWU members from "blocking access" to a Melbourne warehouse and three others in Victoria and NSW that has cost the business a claimed $50 million in sales.
The Victorian Government should opt for best practice guidelines over law reform, the Australian Industry Group has told a parliamentary workplace surveillance inquiry, while the Centre for Future Work says there is an urgent need for dedicated workplace surveillance laws to address the "serious and unacceptable risks" associated with increased monitoring.
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.
Unions are seeking a "total ban" on using AI to hire, fire, discipline or promote workers, along with an "AI tax", in submissions to a Senate inquiry accusing employers of introducing the technology without consultation and deploying it to police productivity.
A supervisor's criticism of management in a social media group chat that "incit[ed] a negative and combative environment among the team", along with performance issues, provided a valid basis for dismissing her, the FWC has found.
The FWC has found a worker's false reports about his colleagues created "psychosocial safety" risks and provided a valid reason for Virgin Australia to dismiss him.
A manager dismissed in an "elaborate and sophisticated scheme" after he made a complaint has won almost $100,000 in damages and penalties for his "non-paragon" employer's unlawful adverse action.
