In a rare instance of a court imposing the maximum penalty under the Fair Work Act, the CFMEU mining and energy division has been fined $33,000 for unlawfully implementing its overtime policy at BHP Coal's Peak Downs mine.
The Federal Court has issued a sweeping injunction to stop CFMEU construction and general division WA branch assistant secretary Joe McDonald from entering Brookfield Multiplex construction sites for nearly three years and ordered the union to pay the company $500,000 in compensation for strikes he incited at two major projects last year.
The employers of two long-term train drivers who were off work for between 18 months and two years because of health issues were entitled to dismiss them when they were ruled unable to resume driving duties, the Fair Work Commission has found.
The Fair Work Commission has removed urine testing from DP World's national drug and alcohol policy, but has also refused a union bid to impose a "three strikes" disciplinary process at four ports across the country.
The NSW police force has been ordered to pay $5,000 to an officer who had his transfer applications refused, partly because of his caring responsibilities.
South Australian Employee Ombudsman Stephen Brennan has been charged with falsifying accounts and dishonesty when secretary of the TCFU's former SA/Tasmanian branch, while the Fair Work Commission is continuing to investigate the branch's financial affairs.
The Fair Work Commission has ruled that it is not prevented from considering behaviour that occurred before the start of the new bullying jurisdiction on January 1 this year when dealing with applications for orders to stop the conduct.
A Fair Work Commission full bench has ruled that only employees who will immediately be covered by an enterprise agreement are entitled to vote on its approval, not employees who are likely to be covered in the future.
In the first full bench ruling on the issue, the Fair Work Commission has found that unfair dismissal applications lodged before a termination of employment takes effect are not automatically invalid and the tribunal has the power to waive any defects in their early filing.
Job candidates in Australia enjoy better privacy protection of their personal information than current or former employees, according to RMIT University's Professor Anthony Forsyth.