Tribunal backs dismissal for "racial slur"; FWC’s "New Approaches" program moves beyond pilot phase; FWO sets up "anonymous reports" site; and Bench upholds union right to be heard on FOC ship deal.
With the deadline looming for companies to submit their annual gender equity reports, the Workplace Gender Equality Agency has highlighted a 13.9% pay gap for female senior managers in law firms, while a new KPMG report shows ASX-listed employers are making slow progress in appointing female senior executives – with the notable exception of HR roles.
The FWC has reinstated a senior clinician fired for making "ill-advised" jokes about her hospital director in email exchanges with her supervisor, after finding "the punishment did not fit the crime".
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has today criticised CFMEU construction and general division Victorian branch leader John Setka for reportedly comparing the Coalition's "attack" on the union and its members to that of Hitler's Germany, after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull called on the Labor leader to "publicly disown" the union secretary.
Wages in private sector agreements approved in the March quarter have continued to grow at the lowest rate since 1991, while public sector deals have delivered the lowest rises in 22 years, according to Department of Employment data released today.
The CFMEU says the construction watchdog prosecuted its national secretary, Michael O'Connor, on the basis of flimsy evidence, in an effort to politically embarrass his brother, shadow workplace relations minister Brendan O'Connor.
The FWC has found a supervisor's remuneration exceeded the $136,700 high-income threshold for unfair dismissal protection, ruling it should count as earnings the full value of a $16,000 car allowance that was "simply an alternative way to describe a portion of his cash wages."
Two weeks into the federal election campaign, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called for the re-introduction of statutory individual agreements and the removal of all content except wage rates from modern awards.
