A University of Sydney lecturer sacked after superimposing a swastika on an Israeli flag in teaching materials and social media posts is relying on political opinion protections in the Fair Work Act and academic freedom clauses, claiming he was really dismissed for challenging his treatment.
The FWC has rejected an employer's claim it did not summarily dismiss an apprentice by text, describing a later email in which the teenager was told "we are holding your position open" as a "retroactive" attempt to characterise the worker as having quit.
The head of La Trobe University's Law School has accused the institution's HR executive director of acting beyond her remit and taking disproportionate disciplinary action in breach of its agreement by suspending him following complaints by an IR academic and a law lecturer.
Federal Labor has pledged to establish a new low-cost small claims jurisdiction to deal with wage underpayments, which will "sit alongside" the Fair Work Commission.
The FWC should pay heed to headline inflation running at 1.3% when awarding this year's minimum wage increase, according to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The FWC has affirmed BHP's right to introduce roster changes recognising "lifestyle arrangements" and made a call on what constitutes "significant" support for them, after the CFMMEU failed to establish that an agreement clause only allows for bottom-up instigation.
An employer who failed to record a worker's serial misconduct, provide a written warning or give him an opportunity to respond nevertheless did not deny him a fair go when forcing him to resign following a brief lunch room meeting, the FWC has found.
An IR academic and a law lecturer who accused the head of La Trobe University's Law School of bullying have failed to convince the Federal Court to suppress their names in his legal challenge to an investigation into their complaints, the judge finding their identities had already been revealed by an industry publication.
The FWC has rebuked a lawyer for his "dilatory" approach to filing a general protections claim, ultimately granting his client a time extension because of the unusual degree of stress and anxiety he suffered as a consequence of his dismissal.
RAFFWU is yet to concede defeat on a bid to quash Woolworths' 2012 agreement, after an FWC full bench threw out its challenge to the approval of the retailer's replacement deal and accused it of trying to deprive some team members of an allowance "merely to aid" its termination application.
