The FWO has been described as the most energetic IR enforcement agency Australia has had and its statistics for 2009-10 bear that out, with its information line taking 1.1m calls; its online tools attracting 370,000 downloads; and its inspectors recouping $26.1m in underpayments and launching 53 prosecutions - including its first for pregnancy discrimination under the Fair Work Act.
AMMA has called for significant changes to good faith bargaining laws that include giving employers the right to know how many and which employees a union it is bargaining with represents and to make non-union greenfields deals.
The CFMEU has elected forestry and furnishing products division secretary Michael O'Connor to run its national office, while the CEPU's communication division has appointed Queenslander Cameron Thiele as its national secretary.
Unions can legitimately seek ballots in which employees are asked a single question authorising multiple forms of protected action, a senior FWA member has found, in a ruling at odds with the tribunal's recent decisions on the question.
FWA's telephone conciliation of unfair dismissal claims might not be popular with all practitioners, but its 81% settlement rate for 2009-10 is higher than ever before, according to the tribunal's annual report.
Local government employees in NSW could soon have the option of taking 18 weeks parental leave on full pay by combining their entitlements under the federal paid parental leave scheme and the new award proposed for the sector.
Dispute notifications increased fivefold in the first year of FWA’s operation, while protected action ballot applications increased almost threefold, the new institution’s annual report reveals.
The MBA says updated research released today that links labour productivity growth in the construction sector with the inception of the ABCC and its predecessor bolsters the case for retaining the “strong and effective cop on the beat”.
