The FWC has found the redundancy of a FIFO labour hire coal mineworker affected by COVID-19 travel restrictions not genuine, holding that Workpac failed to meet its consult obligations after BHP said it no longer needed him.
The FWC has upheld the dismissal of a student visa holder who punched a co-worker in the face after accusing him of saying "a lot of bad things" about a colleague she claimed was regularly being sexually assaulted by local Japanese gangsters.
The High Court is likely to hear the Personnel Contracting/ZG Operations and Ridd cases in the second half of the year, after setting timetables for submissions to be completed by early June.
A FWC member has resisted criticising labour hire company Workpac for mishandling the redundancies of five mine workers due to "extraordinary" COVID-19 circumstances but expressed disbelief at resource giant South32's ignorance of its supplier's statutory obligations.
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese is set to promise to legislate job security as a key objective of the Fair Work Act, along with empowering the FWC to set minimum standards for gig workers.
In a significant decision on FWC powers, a full bench has found the tribunal could not force a labour hire company to reinstate a worker to his former job at client Carlton United Breweries, given the beer giant was contractually entitled to order his removal.
BHP Billiton is sounding out employees in its fast-growing in-house labour hire operation on "simple, safety net" agreements that include a guarantee to pay 5% more than the award to full-time and part-time employees.
A workforce management company supplying technicians to the NBN, Telstra and Foxtel has failed to convince a full Federal Court that it should knock out a class action on behalf of at least 3350 workers allegedly misclassified as subcontractors.
The CFMMEU's mining and energy division has stepped up its push for BHP Billiton to negotiate enterprise agreements at its two in-house labour hire companies, giving notice it wants to formally initiate bargaining.