A Fair Work Commission member denied an employer procedural fairness when he allowed a self-represented unfair dismissal applicant to escape cross examination by giving unsworn evidence from the bar table, a full bench has ruled.
FWC Vice President Adam Hatcher will head up a full bench to deal with the ACTU's wide-ranging casual and part-time employment claims, as well as proposed employer variations, after Commission president Iain Ross accepted they were "common issues" across the modern awards that the tribunal is reviewing after four years of operation.
The FWC has again refused to suppress the names of an employer and workers facing allegations of bullying, finding that the principle of open justice meant it shouldn't make confidentiality orders.
A confectionery company's direction to its production workers to shift their jobs 34km across Sydney's southern suburbs breached their rights under their enterprise agreements and employment contracts, a FWC full bench has ruled today.
There is nothing inherently wrong with a "start up" business making with a small group of workers an enterprise agreement that will later cover a much larger number and a wider range of jobs, but it will need to pass the "better off overall test" for those future employees as well as the existing ones, a FWC full bench has confirmed.
Coles Supermarkets, which is in the midst of bargaining for a new agreement, is expected to oppose a TWU bid in the FWC next week to gain orders to force the retailer to make a separate national agreement for a group of workers in its Coles Online business.
The Federal Circuit Court has drawn a link between s-xual assault laws and the Fair Work Act's sham contracting prohibitions in finding that a floor repairing business was not "reckless" as to whether five of its independent contractors were actually employees.
A high-level FWC full bench will decide what constitutes being "at work" under the Fair Work Act's bullying regime after hearing argument this morning from three DP World workers, the company, the MUA, ACCI and the AiG.
The Fair Work Commission has warned the Dapto Leagues Club it might encounter difficulties enforcing its new policy against employee lip piercings or visible body art, noting the irony of its approach given "a majority of professional footballers" are "covered in tattoos".
The CFMEU says the Heydon Royal Commission will exceed its powers if it finds the union and its officers guilty of breaking the law, arguing it is only an investigative body.
