The Fair Work Act is "effectively useless" to counter picketing, according to a leading employer-clientele barrister who laments that police often turn "a blind eye" to what would normally be considered criminal conduct, while the High Court's chief justice has canvassed the utility of comparative law in the workplace legal arena.
The FWC has ordered an employer to hand over a confidential report into alleged bullying complaints, board meeting minutes and communications about its investigation to two employees claiming they were bullied in the workplace.
A full Federal Court has dismissed regional airline Rex's attempts to challenge a pilots' union's standing to pursue an adverse action claim for non-members, concluding it is entitled to represent the industrial interests of eligible non-members.
The FWC has upheld the dismissal of a FIFO worker at Gina Rinehart's Roy Hill iron ore mine after finding his frustration over a medic's insistence that he suffered from anxiety rather than asthma did not excuse him abusing her and telling her to get some "schooling" because she was going to "kill someone".
Victoria's Andrews Government has today committed to introducing a labour hire licensing scheme, after the Forsyth inquiry recommended such a regime for labour suppliers to the horticulture, meat and cleaning industries.
Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has called off a scheduled annual meeting with her state and territory IR counterparts, telling them there are "no matters requiring ministerial decision".
The Federal Court has today fined a Melbourne painting & decorating firm and its director almost $20,000 for texting workers and telling them they must be members of the CFMEU before starting on-site work.
The CFMEU construction and general division's Victorian branch is appealing a Federal Court decision that barred the union from paying an $18,000 penalty against an organiser after the judge concluded the union received part of its income from government grants.
An FWC full bench has rejected a bid for an anti-bullying order by a cleaner who alleged he was bullied and harassed by his manager when he was called a "pig" and told off after he was caught napping in a disused room he converted into an unofficial staff room.
The MUA has established its right to represent one of three teams of workers it sought access to at the Gorgon LNG project's processing site, after the FWC found their principal functions "lie at the heart of a waterside worker".
