The Victorian Government, the State's Trades Hall and the ASU are calling for the Albanese Government to stick to its pre-election commitment to enact a carve-out in the Closing Loopholes Bill so that state wage theft laws can continue to operate.
The FWC has castigated an employer for its "unconscionable" and "intimidatory" written notice suggesting that a casual duty manager committed theft and fraud when she failed to pay for a drink or offer an explanation for missing stock, while it has also lambasted its representative, Clubs NSW, for its "unprofessional" conduct in characterising her conduct as criminal.
The FWC has accepted that an unfairly dismissed wharfie made genuine attempts to mitigate her lost earnings "by building on her second career as a singer", awarding her almost $27,000 in foregone pay.
Safe Work Australia has told federal, state and territory workplace safety ministers that they should ban use of engineered stone, regardless of its crystalline silica content, after a dramatic increase in the incidence of silicosis.
Maurice Blackburn's head of employment and industrial law, Josh Bornstein, says damages for discrimination and harassment "remain persistently low" but he expects an upwards trajectory as their impact has been "laid bare" and expectations are now clearer.
Offering a possible glimpse of things to come as the Albanese Government pushes for passage of its Loopholes Bill, Greens Senator Barbara Pocock has used a presentation to this year's ALERA conference to outline seven priorities that her party considers "very significant issues that need legislative attention".
A group representing rideshare drivers has called for Labor to change the Closing Loopholes Bill to retrospectively apply a new definition of employee that would assist it in a high-powered Federal Court case against Uber.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a kitchen hand who turned up intoxicated in his own time to prepare for his next shift, but has berated the employer over its "failure to exercise basic decency" when leaving him to find his own way home.
The new WA Labor Premier, Roger Cook, has written to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to warn that he should consider industry concerns that the Closing Loopholes legislation might damage the mining and resources sector.
The Federal Court might be left to decide between competing KFC rest breaks class actions, with Gordon Legal revealing today it has filed a group action against Colonel Sanders two days after Shine Lawyers revealed it is building a RAFFWU-backed case.
