Institutions, tribunals, courts page 355 of 358

The Federal Circuit Court has found it has the discretion to make costs orders against lawyers in industrial matters, despite the absence of any such power in the Fair Work Act.

Giving teenage employees free and discounted pizzas and soft drink instead of wages – a practice belonging "in the dark ages rather than twenty first century Australia" – has cost a pizza franchise operator $335,000 in fines.

The Master Builders Association has called on Canberra to act to give its proposed building watchdog the power to deal with secondary boycotts, which unions are using as a "weapon that has the capacity to send Master Builders' members to the wall or inflict sufficient damage to warrant complicity".

A Federal Court full bench has this afternoon struck down FWC President Iain Ross's move to appoint himself to the expert panel conducting the review of default super funds in modern awards.

A positive economic outlook and sustained labour productivity improvement are key factors in yesterday's Fair Work Commission's decision to award a 3% increase to award rates of pay, with the minimum wage panel again advising employer groups that they need to introduce more rigour to their surveys if they are to have any influence on the tribunal's deliberations.

Fair Work Commission President Iain Ross has vowed to stick with the timetable he set down for the review of default superannuation funds.

The Financial Services Council has demanded that Fair Work Commission President Iain Ross clarify two legal points before its challenge to the default superannuation review is heard by the Federal Court on Friday.

FWC President Iain Ross has this afternoon flatly rejected a suggestion that his involvement in superannuation funds "25 years ago" means he has a conflict of interest in sitting on the expert panel's review of default funds.

The construction watchdog's review of "cold cases" has identified another 14 cases where penalties were agreed through negotiation or discontinued, a Senate Estimates hearing has been told. Meanwhile, the Fair Work Ombudsman has rejected suggestions that it "washes its hands" of 457 visa complaints.

A member of the Fair Work Commission's expert panel has resigned after being disqualified, due to a potential conflict of interest, from participating in the review of default superannuation funds. Meanwhile, the Financial Services Council's challenge to the make-up of the panel is to be heard this week.