The Federal Court has largely rejected a former CSIRO scientist's claim for more than $300,000 in compensation for alleged sexual harassment, discrimination and adverse action, instead awarding her $1000 over a senior manager's failure to comply with grievance procedures.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has put companies and boards "on notice" after Woolworths revealed that 5,700 salaried employees at its supermarkets and metro stores have been underpaid by up to $300 million.
A judge has ordered more than $200,000 in compensation and penalties against two underpaying former company directors at the same time as roundly rejecting FWO attempts to characterise the dental technician involved as a "vulnerable" visa-holder.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has invoked the Hawke-Keating legacy in pledging to work with business while addressing insecure work by extending "new forms of protections" to workers in the gig economy.
Australia's two largest employer groups have rejected the Morrison Government's in-principle commitment to introduce criminal offences for the worst cases of underpayment.
Victorian Attorney-General and workplace safety minister Jill Hennessy says that new legislation to create a criminal offence of industrial manslaughter could extend to some workplace-linked suicides and to diseases such as silicosis.
In a decision that potentially moves the dial on how much the 21-day deadline for unfair dismissal claims can be stretched, the FWC has in discerning no practical consequences granted an extension to a worker who lodged their form 29 minutes after midnight on a Friday.
A peak employer body has lost a lengthy battle to reclaim millions of dollars in payroll tax on the basis of its charity status, a court finding the network's model "primarily focused on serving the self-interest of its members" rather than promoting a stronger economy for everyone.
The continuing paucity of union-negotiated agreements coupled with the Coalition's "business-friendly" IR agenda stands to cost private sector workers an average of $2000 over the course of a three-year deal, according to an economist who claims we are witnessing a return to Work Choices-era bargaining.
The Law Institute of Victoria has voiced its support for expanding the Legal Services Award to include early-career lawyers in private practice, but concedes that setting a minimum salary could lead to a "race to the bottom".
