Two landmark class actions allege that a BHP Billiton subsidiary induced two labour hire companies to unlawfully engage hundreds of coal mineworkers as casuals and pay them less than the industry award.
Opposition launches site for labour hire grievances; Sacked Asperger's sufferer granted time extension; Vale David Duncan; IMF has mixed views on NZ IR changes; High Court reserves decision in $6.5 million case.
Australia's first labour hire licensing regime comes into effect in Queensland today with legislators attempting to meet industry concerns about its wide cast by tackling the thorny issue of who is and who isn't caught in its scope.
A labour hire employee who lost an offer to shift to direct employment with his host employer after IR staff became aware of his dual identity has failed in unfair dismissal claims against both parties, in a ruling in which the FWC also rejected his joint employment arguments.
The Tasmanian ALP has announced it will introduce industrial manslaughter laws and consider a labour hire licensing scheme if it wins the March 3 state election.
Victoria has moved closer to becoming the third state to regulate the labour hire industry after legislation last week reached the upper house, where the government needs to secure the votes of two of the five minor party members.
The FWC has opened the way for an on-hire casual employee to challenge his dismissal, after rejecting a labour hire company's jurisdictional objection that he could have no reasonable expectation of continuing employment, or was engaged for a specified task which came to an end.
South Australia's Weatherill Labor Government will continue to push for national laws regulating labour hire, even though the state this week passed its own laws.
In a decision signalling potential judicial pushback against so-called "sham" agreements, a Federal Court has quashed a two-year-old deal approved by three employees that now covers more than 1000 mining services workers, ruling that the employer made inadequate efforts to explain a document benchmarked against 11 different awards.
