The failure of a construction company's HR team to adequately explain two proposed "baseline agreements" or provide access to relevant awards has proven fatal to their approval, the FWC finding that other issues of non-compliance could have been dealt with by undertakings.
An FWC full bench has issued guidance for the approval of enterprise agreements containing minor errors, finding that employers can give as little as four days' notice of voting and alter the text on template forms as long as workers are not disadvantaged.
The FWC has rejected a contentious MFB agreement because of terms that hinder workers shifting to part-time employment and permit the United Firefighters Union to block flexible working arrangements, but it has left the door open for the deal's approval with undertakings.
An FWC full bench has used a workplace determination to call on the federal government to relax public sector bargaining guidelines, at the same time as it questioned the legal standing of a major department's decision to "go harder" after workers voted down multiple proposed deals.
The FWC will no longer be required to conduct four-yearly reviews of modern awards, while being given powers to approve enterprise agreements despite minor procedural or technical errors, under long-delayed legislation passed by the Federal Parliament last night.
Esso Australia and the AWU have resumed protracted negotiations over a new enterprise agreement covering offshore oil and gas workers in Bass Strait ahead of a February 4 hearing of the company's s225 application to terminate the existing deal.
An FWC full bench has upheld a decision that rejected a multinational drilling company's deal without first inviting it to respond to every concern, confirming that a denial of procedural fairness would not have guaranteed a new hearing anyway.
A Christian aged care home's "dismissive" and "disingenuous" response to FWC queries has scuttled an agreement's approval, the Commission finding the employer failed to adequately explain the deal to its predominantly non-English speaking workforce.
An FWC full bench has split over when an agreement is "made" and whether bargaining can continue or must re-start if the tribunal refuses to approve it.
The Australian Industry Group is warning employers not to rush in to making agreement undertakings incorporating a recent key decision on casual leave until the Federal Court determines a challenge to the ruling's ambit.
