A tribunal member has strongly rebuked a legal firm for its "unprofessional" behaviour in missing a deadline to file material, lamenting that unlike golf tee times, FWC directions cannot be changed "at a whim".
A reduction of more than 60% in external legal expenses has steered the construction watchdog into operating profit for the 2017-18 financial year, as it continues a recent shift to initiating fewer court cases at the same time as it has been winning record penalties against the CFMMEU.
BP Australia is seeking to terminate the enterprise agreement for its oil refinery in Western Australia, in the latest case of a big employer using what the Federal Opposition has dubbed the "nuclear option" to break a bargaining deadlock.
The FWC says RAFFWU's objections to a Woolworths deal it expects to be voted up next week will delay its approval by "many months", as the tribunal orders the retailer to produce wage comparison documents to inform the union's bid to terminate the 2012 agreement.
IR Minister Kelly O'Dwyer is intervening in Workpac's bid to block a casual from winning leave entitlements or to "off-set" his claims with loading and flat rates already paid, while the CFMMEU says it will also seek to intervene to protect principles established in Skene.
Toll's failure to specify that it would not recognise a worker's prior service with a labour hire company has left it open to his unfair dismissal claim, with the FWC finding he met the minimum employment period as the transfer of his work established a connection between his new and old employer.
The FWC has rejected arguments that the CFMEU engaged in pattern bargaining during negotiations over agreements with two crane operators, clearing the path for indefinite strikes to begin early this morning.
ABCC deputy commissioner Cathy Cato, who acted as the watchdog's leader when long-serving head Nigel Hadgkiss left last year, has resigned to take up a senior state public sector job.
A large employer that argued that it needed an external lawyer because it recently made its HR director redundant has been permitted legal representation in an unfair dismissal case that the FWC found will involve complex jurisdictional argument.
