Workplace policy page 2 of 81

Most universities now have cultural workload allowances for First Nations employees in their agreements that recognise the often unseen cultural education guidance they provide, with WA's Murdoch University the latest to adopt the entitlement, according to the NTEU.

In a decision warning that workplaces are "on notice" to meet far higher standards of behaviour, the FWC has thrown out the unfair dismissal claim of a veteran Alcoa worker held to have groped a female colleague.

In what stands as a forensic analysis of disciplinary process failings, a judge in a near-300-page judgment has found that a construction giant took adverse action against a senior manager when it sacked him for allegedly intimidating property owners while partying during the 2020 bushfire recovery effort.

Safework NSW is calling for employers to develop anti-violence policies and procedures to prevent or minimise workplace s-xual harassment and other forms of violence, following a court ordering Marist Youth Care to pay more than $400,000 in fines and costs after its workers experienced "s-xualised and aggressive behaviour".

A court has accepted that Melbourne University threatened two casual workers that "if you claim outside your contracted hours don't expect work next year" and when one worker tried to claim five additional hours it refused to further engage her, calling her a "self-entitled Y-genner" on a "crusade behind the scenes".

A non-compete clause is business's "bluntest tool in the shed" and Australia should look to international limits on restraints of trade that enable workers to switch jobs more easily and give businesses other options to protect their interests, Assistant Competition Minister Andrew Leigh told the McKell Institute today.

A Newcastle-based church unfairly summarily dismissed a worker when it took the view that no-one vaccinated against COVID-19 could work for it because it viewed the inoculation as "the world's largest ever untested medical experiment", and retrospectively applied the policy to the worker without warning.

The FWC has found understaffing weighed heavily on the mind of a custody officer sacked by Ventia for headbutting a door in frustration at a prisoner on the other side, noting it might be "unfair to apply the standards expected of angels to mere humans".

The FSU has told a Senate inquiry that employees suffering from perimenopause or menopausal symptoms should have a right to apply for flexible work, while Maurice Blackburn says an ability to work from home, access extra paid leave and take longer breaks greatly improves engagement.

Strict non-disclosure clauses remain the default option for s-xual harassment settlements, a year after the publication of Respect@Work Council guidelines for their use, according to a new report that nevertheless outlines model NDA terms.