RMIT University associate professor Anthony Forsyth says the recent Endeavour Coal and Cochlear decisions demonstrate the shortcomings of the FW Act's good faith bargaining provisions and that broader access to arbitration is needed.
In a wide ranging address to the Australian Institute of Employment Rights in Sydney, Professor Ron McCallum has sought to justify the FW Act review panel's recommendations on arbitration, productivity and the JJ Richards case.
In an important development in the Cochlear battle, Fair Work Australia today found the company breached the Fair Work Act's good faith bargaining requirements during its protracted negotiations with the AMWU, and issued bargaining orders against it.
An employee who rejected a job offer from the new owners of a transmitting business that included a qualifying period for unfair dismissal purposes was entitled to redundancy pay, Fair Work Australia has ruled.
Wage rises in private sector agreements approved in the March quarter hit 4.6%, with pay deals averaging 5.8% in the construction sector and a large agreement covering employees of the former ABC Learning childcare centres primarily responsible for pushing up the figure, DEEWR data released yesterday reveals.
Shadow Workplace Relations Minister, Senator Eric Abetz, has delivered a withering response to the Fair Work Act review, while Adelaide University's Professor Andrew Stewart said the evidence in the report supported its conclusion that there was no compelling case for major change.
Employers and unions both lost and won some battles in the Fair Work Act review, released today, but how much of this will translate into legislative change remains unclear, with Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten committing to further consultation before coming to a final position.
The Federal Government should amend the Fair Work Act to reverse the Federal Court's JJ Richards decision on industrial action and its Barclay v Bendigo TAFE ruling on adverse action, and it should make IFAs easier to access, the panel reviewing the legislation has recommended.
Five former insurance sales representatives found last year by the Federal Court to be employees, not independent contractors, have been awarded half a million dollars in accrued annual and long-service leave, with one receiving $333,130.
