In a decision exploring what constitutes a disciplinary investigation, a FWC full bench has quashed a finding that a public transport agency must pay a group of train drivers blocked from attending work after failing to comply with its COVID-19 vaccination policy.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a disability services manager for including false information on a form, leading to her employer improperly claiming fees and endangering its federal funding.
The FWC has found that a HR manager who quit after her employer changed her responsibilities was not forced to resign, noting that although she had to report to a different manager, "a change in a reporting line does not constitute constructive dismissal".
A dumpling chain's HR manager was knowingly concerned in its Fair Work Act contraventions and "did not simply act as a conduit", the Federal Court has held in a liability judgment, finding she also instructed and trained a colleague in a payroll scam using both accurate and inaccurate records.
New Zealand Labour Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has deferred public consultation on a new test to determine who is a contractor and who is an employee, as he seeks to concentrate on cost-of-living issues in lead-up to an expected October election.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has told the High Court that upholding Qantas' challenge to a finding that it unlawfully outsourced ground-handling jobs would lead to a "chronic imbalance" in IR, while the airline argues that the Government should not be allowed to intervene in the case in the first place.
Australian workplace laws have a "legislative preference" for registered unions to act as a "specific vehicle" for workers seeking to enforce their rights under industrial instruments, the Federal Court has heard.
In returning a worker to her job and restoring most of her lost pay, finding the policy the worker breached "might make sense to copyright lawyers and some IT specialists, but probably no one else" the FWC has cautioned that "employer policy documents and manuals must be accessible, understandable and reasonable in their terms".
The FWC has given the go-ahead to a scientist's adverse action case despite claims she "played" the employer by obtaining a reference stating she resigned for health reasons, before refusing to sign a release deed and initiating legal action.
Stevedoring giant Qube has failed to head off a multi-million lawsuit after the FWC found it had no standing to seek retrospective agreement variations affecting dockworkers' pay.
