A charity did not "intend" to sack a casual carer seeking to resume shifts after recovering from a back injury, but its dithering and poor communications nevertheless "had that effect", the FWC has found.
An employer has failed to convince the FWC that a casual 'fragrance brand ambassador' had not yet become an employee when it "withdrew" the role before her first shift.
In an early test of Secure Jobs changes that outlaw pay secrecy mandates, a former casual sales assistant at a landmark Melbourne bookshop has begun legal action in the Federal Circuit Court, alleging it no longer offered her shifts after she disclosed a pay rise and backpay to her fellow workers.
In a decision highlighting the difficulties that can arise from agreement clauses linked to awards and the NES, the FWC has handed back Simplot workers' arbitration rights for casual conversion disputes but removed mention of their entitlement to access permanency after nine months.
A FWC member has put in a plug for a "likeable" casual ski instructor to be re-employed, despite rejecting his request for a time extension to challenge his sacking for allegedly competing in an obstacle race while drawing worker's compensation for an injury.
The NTEU is calling on Monash University to rectify $9 million in alleged underpayments to casual teachers after the FWC rejected a bid to retrospectively vary its agreement, while its vice chancellor and soon-to-be Victorian Governor says that without a "grand bargain" their payment systems will remain an "unproductive source of contestation".
A court has ordered a juice bar that pocketed a worker's JobKeeper payments to cough up nearly $30,000 and its director $5000 for ignoring a FWO compliance notice, signalling to the restaurant and cafe sector that its lawbreaking record has created a need for "very substantial general deterrence".
A FWC full bench has rejected a farmworker's bid to scrap casual overtime award rates she claims prompted an employer to sideline her during a peak harvest period because she reached the maximum ordinary hours.
Many employers are still scrambling to work out what the next raft of Secure Jobs changes will mean for them when they take effect next Tuesday and fear being "caught by surprise", according to the Ai Group, while the FWC has added a series of videos to its information packages on the amendments.
The ACTU is calling on the Albanese Government to make it easier for those "misclassified" as casuals to recover their full entitlements, with its research showing casual workers earn nearly 11% less than permanent employees of the same skill level or occupation and most are in long-term arrangements.
