ACTU secretary Sally McManus told a hearing in Melbourne today that the Federal Government’s "ensuring integrity" legislation would impose harsher standards and punishments on unions and their officials than the Corporations Act does to employers.
A full Federal Court has reserved judgment on the union application to quash the Fair Work Commission ruling to cut weekend penalty rates in the retail and hospitality sectors.
The ACTU has taken aim at the proposed public interest test for union amalgamations, saying there is no basis for the Turnbull Government's claim that it is the equivalent of the competition test for corporate mergers.
The FWC's minimum wage panel has decided against holding a preliminary hearing to consider new research on the budget required to sustain a healthy lifestyle, after the proposal only won support from Catholic employers.
Business SA has lost its bid for a charitable purpose payroll tax exemption plus a refund of more than $2.6 million already paid, after a court found its primary purpose is providing policy advocacy to benefit businesses rather than advancing trade and commerce.
Catholic school employers have failed to convince the FWC to refer to a full bench its challenge to the right of NSW and ACT teachers to take protected action on the basis their dioceses are not "single interest employers" as required by the Fair Work Act.
The Turnbull Government has blasted a major builder that negotiated a precedent-setting enterprise agreement with the CFMEU as being "highly unrepresentative" of the construction industry, describing the deal as an act of "commercial self-harm".
An FWC full bench has reserved its decision on an SDA application to include paid blood donor leave in five awards, after employers argued the entitlement has no place in the modern awards system and should be left for enterprise bargaining.
United Voice has launched Federal Court action against security giant Wilson, accusing it of unlawfully allocating overtime payments to Sundays in a bid to avoid paying correct penalty rates to security guards.
The ACTU is preparing to train affiliates to comply with the more stringent governance requirements under the Turnbull Government's rules for registered organisations, as the new regulator develops plans to increase awareness of protections for reprisals against whistleblowers - which extend to imprisonment.
