FWA has taken an "aspirational" approach to what constitutes good faith bargaining, effectively setting a low benchmark for taking protected industrial action, according to an IR barrister.
The proportion of working days lost to non-bargaining disputes under the Fair Work Act has fallen to half that experienced during Work Choices, indicating workers and unions are now more likely to take legal forms of industrial action, an analysis by Griffith University's Professor David Peetz has revealed.
Australian employers are increasingly adopting aspects of US-style bargaining, including thoroughly costing union claims, according to three Melbourne-based senior employer-clientele lawyers who have recently returned from their second annual IR study trip to North America.
The Federal Government has released draft legislation giving shareholders the opportunity to vote out a company's directors if they disapprove of its remuneration report, while it has also released a consultation paper on a proposal to "claw back" bonuses paid to executives and directors if they are based on misleading financial information.
Punitive damages are an orthodox part of Australian law and $37 million "may be what it takes" to deter corrosive workplace conduct in corporate Australia, according to the lawyer behind Kristy Fraser-Kirk's ground-breaking sexual harassment claim.
A Fair Work Australia full bench has overturned an earlier finding that a sacked Australia Post employee's pursuit of an unfair dismissal claim he had previously agreed to settle was frivolous or vexatious.
In an important ruling, a Federal Court full bench has upheld a finding that Queensland Rail entities were obliged under their enterprise agreements to consult their employees about changes to employment arrangements that would flow from privatisation, but has substantially reduced the penalties they must pay.
