Two BHP Coal employees who helped look after their newborn babies while their partners recovered from caesarean sections were not entitled to parental leave as the primary care givers under the company's enterprise agreement, the FWC has ruled.
A senior FWC full bench has moved to clarify the confusion caused by conflicting decisions on whether unions that bargain for non-permitted matters are "genuinely trying to reach an agreement" under the Fair Work Act.
The Federal Government is trying to curb lawful industrial action and reduce the likelihood that bargaining will result in collective deals in a bill it introduced into federal Parliament late last year, according to the ACTU.
The ANZ bank has offered annual pay rises of between 3.75% to 5.25% over two years if employees accept a new enterprise agreement, while threatening to pay a single annual increase of between 3% to 4.5% if it is rejected.
Almost half of federally registered enterprise agreements contain general commitments to improve productivity and a high proportion identify specific productivity measures, but their effectiveness is difficult to measure, according to a new FWC report.
The Fair Work Commission has given the go-ahead for protected action ballots at Esso Australia's Victorian gas operations after unions dropped a claim to limit the use of contractors.
Mermaid Marine has won more flexibility in rostering for stevedores working at its Dampier supply base under a new enterprise agreement endorsed by MUA members.
There is nothing inherently wrong with a "start up" business making with a small group of workers an enterprise agreement that will later cover a much larger number and a wider range of jobs, but it will need to pass the "better off overall test" for those future employees as well as the existing ones, a FWC full bench has confirmed.
Coles Supermarkets, which is in the midst of bargaining for a new agreement, is expected to oppose a TWU bid in the FWC next week to gain orders to force the retailer to make a separate national agreement for a group of workers in its Coles Online business.