A senior Fair Work Commission full bench will tomorrow hear argument on whether the tribunal can take account of bullying incidents that occurred before this year when it considers making orders under the new jurisdiction.
Retail and hospitality workers who are sexually harassed by customers at work might not feel they are able to report and deal with the abuse, according to university research.
The FWC has ordered the United Firefighters' Union to comply with good faith bargaining obligations in its negotiations with Victoria's Country Fire Authority, while the union has lodged an appeal against the Federal Court's ruling that clauses requiring the CFA to employ additional firefighters and conduct recruitment are unconstitutional.
Fair Work Commission general manager Bernadette O'Neill will seek civil penalties against the Musicians' Union and one of its officials for 118 alleged breaches of the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act.
The MUA and AMMA are accusing each other of shifting the goalposts in the drawn-out bargaining round for vessel operators in the offshore oil and gas industry, with the union to begin a 48-hour stoppage at pacesetting Tidewater Marine on Friday.
In an unusual case, a Fair Work Commission full bench has upheld a dismissed employee's appeal against a refusal to extend time to file a general protections claim, finding that a communication between the Fair Work Ombudsman's office and the associate of the senior member hearing the application denied him procedural fairness.
"Employer smarts" about the Fair Work Act's general protections laws are increasing and are likely to make more of a difference than the High Court's ruling in the Barclay adverse action case, according to former Federal Court judge, Peter Gray.
Changes to greenfields agreement provisions in the bill expected to be introduced by Employment Minister Eric Abetz next week will cut negotiation time from five months to three for major projects and cut business administration costs by $14.4 million a year, according to his department's regulation impact statement.
The union covering Hunter Valley coal haulage drivers who are planning to strike next week is ignoring BHP Billiton threats of potential third party legal action and will instead today write to the mining giant to seek its support in resolving the dispute with rail operator Aurizon.
