A union representative has praised one of the FWC's newest members for her "gloves-off advocacy" on behalf of employers, while offering a greeting in Maltese as a nod to their shared heritage.
An official welcome for a new FWC member has heard how he once led a court case revolving around chicken schnitzels that ended with orders to pay more than $70,000 to the family company of a future IR minister.
Former IR Minister Michaelia Cash's final employer-side appointment to the FWC has told how his mother still chafes at the Commission's determination in a matter where she appeared as an employee witness.
The Morrison Government has declined to endorse the FWC's provisional view extending 10 days' paid domestic leave to about 2.6 million award-covered workers, a decision partly based on evidence that it is an "emerging standard" in bargaining and over-award arrangements.
The AWU has admitted to more than 24,000 historic contraventions of registered organisations' obligations to report their membership numbers, a Senate Estimates committee has heard.
Former FWC Vice President Michael Lawler is suing the ABC and one of its reporters for allegedly deceiving him into participating in a Four Corners program that a Government inquiry later found displayed his "unfitness" for office.
The National Farmers' Federation has called on the Federal Government to refer maritime industrial disputes straight to the FWC for arbitration, as one of several moves to improve international freight supply chains.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pledged to intervene if the MUA resumes protected strikes at Patrick stevedores this month, while taking longer-term action on restrictive content imposed by the union in enterprise agreements.
Unions have branded further legislation by the Morrison Government to protect migrant workers as "inadequate, given the scale and of nature" of exploitation, a view endorsed by a leading academic researcher.
The FWC will hear the CFMMEU's challenge to BHP's mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy later this month after deciding the matter is significant enough to invite IR Minister Michaelia Cash, the ACTU and peak employer bodies to intervene.