The FWC has rejected a union bid to bill an aged care provider 15 minutes' overtime for workers required to have rapid antigen tests before each shift, but held that the employer "could and should have done more" to clarify its position.
In a decision shedding further light on whether workers should be paid if instructed to conduct COVID-19 rapid antigen tests at home or prior to a shift, the FWC has held an aged care agreement lacks any provision to pay staff for testing at a time of their choosing.
The Flying Kangaroo's crucial High Court challenge to the finding that it took unlawful adverse action against 2000 former ground crew when it rejected a TWU in-house tender and outsourced their jobs is set to be heard next month.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has told the High Court that upholding Qantas' challenge to a finding that it unlawfully outsourced ground-handling jobs would lead to a "chronic imbalance" in IR, while the airline argues that the Government should not be allowed to intervene in the case in the first place.
A big employer's failure to give union representatives a "heads up" that it would impose a vaccination mandate did not necessarily render its subsequent dismissal of 25 workers unfair, the FWC has found.
In a significant decision on the nature of work, the FWC has found that the nursing home at the centre of one of Queensland's deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks should have paid employees for the time spent taking rapid antigen tests before the start of their shifts.
A senior FWC member has described a public transport agency's vaccination policy as "pressur[ing]" workers to "give up [the] fundamental right" to bodily integrity, before ordering it to pay five train drivers sidelined because of their non-compliance.
The High Court is poised to consider two significant IR matters next week, beginning with NSW unions' bid to overturn a State law restricting election campaign spending, followed by Qantas seeking special leave to challenge a finding that the airline unlawfully shunned a TWU in-house tender when it outsourced the work of 2000 ground-handlers.
In a detailed examination of a major government department's early response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Court has rejected union claims that a hastily-conceived working from home policy breached existing arrangements and consultation requirements.
