In a decision vindicating the FWO's resistance to the grouping of multiple contraventions for the purpose of setting penalties, the workplace watchdog has won a fivefold increase in fines imposed on an underpaying company director.
The ABCC is pressing ahead with prosecutions against the CFMMEU, three officials and 44 individual workers over alleged industrial action last year on a Perth airport rail link project.
The ACTU, acting on behalf of seven aviation unions, will today file an adverse action case against Qantas for making the payment of a cash bonus of up to $2,000 contingent on securing new post-wage-freeze enterprise agreements.
Real labour costs plummet as profits share soars; Police hit with $85K costs for "naïve" union prosecution; Slow wage growth "no puzzle" for employers: PC.
The FWO has launched a test case against the operator of a pop-up toy store, seeking to reverse the onus of proof for underpayments and rely for the first time on serious contraventions provisions that potentially expose the company and its director to 10 times the ordinary maximum penalties.
The CFMMEU's construction division says senior NSW officials at the centre of a new ABCC court action have denied alleged threatening conduct, such as warning a crane company to "agree with everything" in a deal as "you don't want your blokes offsite, equipment damaged, cranes wrecked".
The FWO must pay half the legal costs of a Norwegian shipping company accused of short-changing 60 crew, the Federal Court chastising the watchdog for "doggedly" pushing to hold it liable even though it already repaid them, fully cooperated and could not have known of the contraventions.
A full Federal Court majority has today rejected a judge's reasoning for ordering the MUA to pay a fine of just $38,000 for a week-long unlawful strike at Hutchison Ports' Sydney and Brisbane container terminals, but has rebuffed the FWO's contention that the stevedore should have been awarded $600,000 in damages it didn't seek.
After winning an interlocutory injunction reversing her suspension from Melbourne University, the head of its culture and communication school is challenging her employer's claim that legal advice received before appointing an investigator to probe possible misconduct is privileged.