In dismissing corporate director Kate Shea's general protections case against EnergyAustralia, the Federal Court has ruled that employment complaints must be based on genuinely-held grievances and not made for an ulterior purpose if they are to form the basis of a workplace right.
Gender reporting requirements for businesses with more than 100 employees will stay as they are for another year, while new minimum reporting standards will apply to non-government employers with more than 500 employees from October, Employment Minister Eric Abetz has announced.
A Fair Work Commission full bench headed by the tribunal's president will hear submissions next week on whether unions can lodge bullying order applications on behalf of workers.
A test case that established that the Fair Work Commission is able to consider bullying that occurred before its anti-bullying jurisdiction took effect on January 1 has now been thrown out because the employer is not a "trading" corporation.
In its first substantive order under the new bullying jurisdiction, the Fair Work Commission has directed an employee not to have any unaccompanied contact with a co-worker or make comments about their clothes or appearance.
In a significant decision, a Fair Work Commission full bench has agreed to scrap the 90% rate for 20-year-old retail workers, holding they should receive full adult pay after six months with an employer.
The Federal Court has ruled that two related door manufacturers who provided gift vouchers to non-striking workers did not take adverse action against workers who took protected industrial action in support of a new agreement.
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.
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.
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.
