The FWO has completed its first prosecution of a company for failing to pay minimum wages to interns since the release of a major report on unpaid work.
In a development that threatens the maritime unions' grip on crucial Western Australian ports, two separate companies are offering tugboat workers "partnership" agreements that fall outside traditional employment arrangements.
The Federal Court has thrown out a challenge by Victorian HSU leaders to the Fair Work Commission's inquiry into allegations that the union rorted the right of entry permit system.
The ANZ bank has offered annual pay rises of between 3.75% to 5.25% over two years if employees accept a new enterprise agreement, while threatening to pay a single annual increase of between 3% to 4.5% if it is rejected.
Serco Sodexo Defence Services Pty Ltd has failed to convince the Fair Work Commission it obtained employment for the vast bulk of its workforce when it lost its Defence Department contracts last year, and now faces a hefty redundancy bill for the hundreds of employees who found jobs with the new contractors.
A SA Supreme Court full bench has ruled that an employer must pay long service leave to a casual dockhand who worked sporadically for more than 20 years at Port Lincoln Harbour but has also recommended that state parliament urgently fix legislation that reduced his entitlement to almost nothing.
Queenslanders go to the polls on Saturday with the Newman Government sticking to its IR approach and the Labor Opposition promising to reverse many of the changes implemented over the last two years, as well as ending FIFO-only workplaces and establishing a state Productivity Commission.
The Federal Court has found that requiring an employer to "avert" the redundancy of a senior employee would impose a substantial burden that goes beyond its obligations under its enterprise agreement.
Former Victorian IR Minister Neil Pope and State Police Association secretary Ron Iddles have been recognised in this year's Australia Day honours list.
