The Australian Licenced Aircraft Engineers Association is at the pointy end of a bid for an intractable bargaining declaration to break an alleged "impasse" in negotiations on behalf of Qantas engineers in Tamworth, with the Flying Kangaroo and the union due to report back to the FWC this morning.
Employers have succeeded in varying an award clause a FWC full bench agrees could produce the "absurd" result of workers receiving five times the prescribed minimum rates.
A FWC full bench has slammed a public health provider's HR team for its "inappropriate" response to queries about late payment of 'nauseous work' and education allowances for an estimated 220 employees, concluding that the delay amounted to an underpayment capable of attracting a penalty.
Lawyers behind an underpayments class action on behalf of more than 20,000 junior doctors say a $230 million settlement reached with NSW Health is the largest in the nation's legal history and represents a "seismic shift".
In a significant judgment on the FWC's powers, a full Federal Court has today dismissed a major hospitality group's claim that a Commission bench exhibited bias when it voiced its concerns about an already-approved agreement ultimately revealed to have been voted up by three venue managers and a payroll employee not covered by it.
A FWC full bench has made a provisional ruling in favour of ensuring the lowest pay classification in modern awards is used only for a short period of induction and training, making the second lowest rate the benchmark for continuing employment.
Low Pay Commission research has found that Government policies have driven the UK minimum wage's "bite" of the median up by 9.3 percentage points, while Australia's has increased by less than 0.1 percentage points since 2015, with next month's 9.8% wage floor rise in the old country to bring the minimum up to two-thirds of the median wage.
Queensland builders have warned that the adoption of union-backed standard "best practice" pay and conditions for major State Government-funded construction projects will hinder productivity, cause delays and escalate costs.
The Federal Government "strongly supports" the Stage 3 pay increases of up to 13.5% determined in the aged care work value case, but wants them phased-in, with half to be paid in January next year and the remainder in January 2026.
The FWC has urged the Defence Department to send "an authorised and properly instructed representative" to deadlocked bargaining negotiations at the Australian Submarine Corporation.
