Almost $60,000 in penalties have been handed down in a long-running legal saga that went all the way to the High Court and found an employer had engaged employees in a "triangular" sham contracting arrangement.
Coles, the SDA and the AWU have today asked an FWC full bench to refuse the Retail and Fast Food Workers Union permission to appear on behalf of two employees seeking to intervene in an application to terminate the supermarket giant's 2011 enterprise agreement.
Chemist Warehouse's announcement that it won't cut Sunday penalty rates for existing employees has received muted acclaim from the union representing pharmacists, Professionals Australia, which accuses the company of having "sold out" its future workforce.
The FWC has determined that Woolworths was justified in sacking a petrol station employee for refusing to hand over money and cigarettes to a "difficult" customer, who then walked off without paying for a Dare iced coffee and spinach ricotta roll.
A Senate Committee's call for a target date for full gender pay equity has been seized upon by the union pursuing a four-year long equal-remuneration case before the FWC, but found little support from business or Government members on the Labor-dominated committee.
The FWC has issued an interim anti-bullying order restraining the co-owner of a tyre business and his employee nephew from communicating with or being within 10 metres of each other, noting that a separate court order for the nephew not to commit "family violence" against his uncle had done little to improve a combative workplace atmosphere.
The dismissal of a primary school teacher who showed an R-rated movie clip, "purchased" a massage from students and told inappropriate tales in class might have been harsh had he not also instructed them to keep his stories secret, the FWC has found.
Expanding on its theme that the wages system is "broken", the ACTU will seek to change workplace laws so workers and unions can bargain "where the power is" across industries and franchised employers, rather than being limited to the enterprise level.
A government department's failure to establish sufficient distance from an 'independent' appeal panel has seen a court reject its claim for legal professional privilege over advice disclosed to an employee.
