Institutions, tribunals, courts page 102 of 358

A senior manager is seeking penalties and declarations against a public utility, claiming he was sacked after accusing his direct supervisor of fraudulent or corrupt behaviour.

COVID-19 drove the FWC to conduct almost 70% of its proceedings remotely in 2020-21 and to convene a working group with similar institutions to advance virtual proceedings and develop a justice-friendly version of Microsoft Teams, according to the umpire's annual report, which also notes a further improvement in agreement approval times.

The Fair Work Ombudsman increased its use of compliance notices by 113% in 2020-21, as it sought to quickly rectify underpayments instead of taking action in the courts, while it has nevertheless ramped up its legal action by more than 40% and set up a dedicated branch to pursue corporate misconduct.

A Labor/Greens-majority secure work Senate inquiry is calling on the Morrison Government to require federally-funded entities, including universities, aged care and disability services, to give preference to direct, permanent jobs.

The ROC expects to finish its investigation into the AWU's historical donations to GetUp by the end of this year, after a three-year court battle delayed it.

The ABCC increased its use of its compulsory examination powers by 433% in 2020-21, with more than half of the interviews conducted in Queensland.

The FWC's minimum wage panel has revealed that it is developing a consumer price index for low paid households and a budget of discretionary items required to participate in society, while one of its members says the pandemic will make that already difficult task even more complex.

A Supreme Court judge has slapped down a FWC presidential member's "clarion call" for Australians to "vigorously" reject the notion of mandatory COVID-19 jabs, questioning her assertions about the efficacy of vaccines and declaring it is not her role to challenge the validity or appropriateness of public health orders.

A medical recruiter that sacked a manager over an "under-investigated suspicion" he took confidential information from its database must compensate him after the FWC found it was so focused on building a Supreme Court case it failed to provide procedural fairness.

SafeWork NSW has charged Qantas over alleged discriminatory conduct against an OHS representative it stood down after he apparently advised colleagues not to clean planes arriving from China early last year due to COVID-19 concerns.