IR Minister Christian Porter and a major food manufacturer have told the High Court that sick and carers leave must be calculated on average hours, not calendar days, in their challenge to a decision claimed to potentially leave employers an extra $2 billion out of pocket each year.
New rules for recording the working hours of junior lawyers and paralegals are set to take effect from March, despite protests from major law firms, while up to a million clerical employees are set to be subject to similar provisions.
The Federal Court has held that a BMA coal loading facility breached a reasonable overtime clause in its enterprise agreement by requiring workers to perform more than eight additional hours per week.
In a decision that could have employers re-thinking standard travel and hours terms in agreements, the Federal Court has found in favour of a CFMMEU-backed class action that argued workers should be paid for transit time between security gates and their worksite.
In a significant decision on the nature of work, the FWC has ruled that employees required to attend a worksite assembly point by a prescribed time before being transported to a pre-start meeting should be paid for the intervening period.
The negative attitude of Australian businesses towards older workers is a major obstacle in achieving longer working lives, according to a new OECD report.
The FWC has rejected a claim that a chemist operator's HR chief and two managers bullied a pharmacist by failing to roster enough support staff to assist him on Saturday shifts.
Employers say the FWC's decision to forge ahead with model annualised wage clauses containing new record-keeping and reconciliation requirements – inserting them into some awards for the first time – will impose a "major red tape burden" while removing much of the benefit.
The FWC has expressed sympathy for a new father who resisted incentives to buy a second family car to help preserve a work-life balance upended by a transfer to a distant office, but ultimately agreed his employer did not breach his contract's "unreasonable hardship" clause.
The FWC has substantially reduced the compensation payout to an underpaid sacked 457 visa worker because ordering a larger amount might have threatened his employer's viability.
