The FWC has called on employers to introduce a greater range of disciplinary options like fines and unpaid suspensions into agreements to avoid "inappropriately lenient or inappropriately harsh" responses to misconduct that are problematic for all parties concerned.
A full Federal Court has described as "astounding" a CFMEU argument that it should not be held liable for organisers' unauthorised entries to building sites because the alleged contraventions should be viewed as an exercise of "power", rather than of a "right" defined by the Fair Work Act.
The Federal Court has imposed a $2,500 fine on CFMEU construction and general division national secretary Dave Noonan, over unlawful conduct that halted work at Perth's $1.2 billion children's hospital project in 2013.
The Federal Court has refused an application by a company to be represented by its operations manager rather than a lawyer, ruling that the manager lacked "the necessary degree of objectivity and skill" required to conduct the case.
A full Federal Court majority has found that the court cannot treat a "lawful request" or a party's motivation for taking coercive industrial action as a mitigating factor when assessing penalties and has ordered a twelve-fold increase in fines against the CFMEU for organising a blockade at Perth International Airport in 2013.
The Federal Court has found that while AMWU, CFMEU and AWU organisers did not "instruct", "advise" or "encourage" employees at a Victorian paper mill to walk off the job for three days, they and the unions were knowingly involved in the unlawful strikes.
The Turnbull Government has introduced legislation to extend responsibility for deliberate and serious underpayments to franchisors and holding companies, in the wake of the problems exposed at 7-Eleven.
The FWC will allow the ABCC to include material the CFMEU claims is prejudicial in its application to axe the entry permits of three officials who allegedly abused their rights when they visited Lend Lease sites in 2014.
As a court fines a regional café more than $500,000 for exploiting overseas workers and the FWO pursues two other cafes for unlawful "cash-back" schemes, Ombudsman Natalie James has welcomed the Federal Government's commitment to introducing laws to prohibit such arrangements.
