An employer could face a ninefold increase in fines ordered by the Federal Circuit Court after the FWO successfully appealed the judgment on the basis that it wrongly grouped contraventions as a single course of action.
If proven ability to interpret and enforce rules and skin thick enough to withstand regular abuse are among the prerequisites required to lead the construction industry watchdog, then new Workplaces Minister Craig Laundy would appear to have chosen well.
An Uber driver's failure to convince the FWC that he is an employee is unlikely to deter other challenges according to an academic, while the case raises questions as to whether traditional legal tests can be applied to the gig economy.
Pay rises in private sector agreements approved in the September quarter slumped to a new 25-year low of 2.4%, at the same time as bargaining in the sector, already at its weakest level in 22 years, plummeted again, according to new Jobs Department data.
A Qantas pilots union says it will oppose a rule change proposed by the Australian Federation of Air Pilots that would claw back coverage of the airline's pilots, extend eligibility to all international pilots engaged by local operators and allow it to represent independent contractors.
The Federal Court has overturned a CEPU decision to strip a long-term delegate of her union roles, after finding that two officials who heard charges against her were "invincibly biased".
The Federal Court has today dismissed an application by Employment Minister Michaelia Cash to set aside a subpoena served on her by the AWU over the Federal Police raids on the union offices in October.
Unions and Labor have been quick out of the blocks to highlight the employment arrangements in the extensive hotel interests held in the family business of new federal workplaces minister Craig Laundy.
Woolworths and the SDA have been forced to defend a rare confidentiality requirement for pay rates of workers at a new online store set up in anticipation of Amazon's arrival in Australia.
