In a decision pointing to the circumstances under which zombie deals can survive beyond December's drop-dead date, a four-member FWC bench has extended a 2004 agreement by almost 18 months after accepting it provides "significantly" better pay than the award and that negotiations have already begun for a replacement deal.
The FWC has accepted a 48-seconds-late unfair dismissal claim from a worker convinced he filed it just before midnight on the last allowable day, after conceding that the tribunal's online processing quirks might have pushed it beyond the deadline.
A court has limited to about $100,000 the fines it has imposed on an underpaying, now-shuttered labour hire company after accepting that it unintentionally broke the law and that its embarrassed founder is "appropriately remorseful".
BHP has played down the impact of industrial action at its Queensland coal mines, highlighting that the protected action won support from only about 15% of Operations Services production employees in Queensland.
A mechanic who overturned the rejection of his "late" unfair dismissal application has failed to convince a commissioner to recuse himself based on Australian Law Reform Commission unconscious bias research.
CFMMEU mining and energy division members have this week kicked off protected action in BHP's Queensland coal mines, sparking early sparring over the company's proposed ban on allowing workers back into their accommodation camp while on strike.
The FWC has affirmed that blaming late applications on "technical difficulties" without hard evidence is not enough to extend time, even when the margin is just 60 seconds.
A solicitor has been granted permission to re-plead his damages claim against Harmers Workplace Lawyers for allegedly mishandling a discrimination case against his former firm.
A court has refused to grant an interlocutory injunction restraining a lawyer from working in a large regional area while his former firm seeks to enforce a contractual two-year ban, instead accepting an undertaking after observing the legal practice did not have a strong case.
In the first test of Secure Jobs zombie-slayer provisions, a FWC full bench has refused to delay the automatic axing of a scaffolding company's 14-year-old deal after establishing that, contrary to the employer's claims, many of its workers will be better off under the award.
