A full Federal Court has quashed an FWC full bench agreement variation ruling that endorsed a senior member's belief that he could not consider evidence about the intended meaning of a clause because he did not interpret it as ambiguous.
The Federal Court has rejected a "novel" contention that the FWC would be invalidly exercising judicial power if it arbitrated a dispute under an agreement an employer inherited after winning a Defence Department tender.
An FWC full bench has taken aim at the legal advice given to a group of Coles distribution centre workers who over the course of four years and four adverse findings continued to pursue what ultimately became a "hopeless" case related to their work duties.
Another FWC member has rejected full bench advice that they should, in the face of objections, withdraw from arbitrating disputes they have previously conciliated, dismissing claims she displayed "antipathy" towards the union seeking her recusal.
An FWC bench led by Justice Iain Ross has shot back at a full Federal Court direction to properly answer a question posed by the president himself, maintaining it had already done so before highlighting the relevant passages.
A full Federal Court has delivered a pointed rebuke to FWC President Iain Ross, finding it could not consider a challenge to the decision of a Commission full bench he led because it was not, "with respect, any decision. . . at all".
A tribunal has upended a large transport company's "unilateral" decision to change to zero its blood alcohol policy limit for contracted owner-drivers, finding a toolbox meeting and noticeboard postings did not meet the governing agreement's consultation requirements.
A group of Virgin Australia pilots suing the airline for about $2 million claim a commitment to provide command positions or equivalent pay by mid-2016 entitles them to captains' future salary increases under a new deal, regardless of whether they perform the role.
A McDonald's franchise that says it can otherwise stop workers from going to the toilet if it provides a 10-minute paid break contained in their agreement has told a court that Queensland's WHS Act does not entitle employees "to be protected from cruel and inhumane working conditions".
An employer that unilaterally reduced the classification levels of two workers previously handed a pay upgrade has failed to convince the FWC it had no power to intervene in a contractual issue "masquerading" as an enterprise agreement dispute.
