Employers should be subject to a stronger onus to prevent s-xual harassment under the existing positive duty to provide safe workplaces under OHS laws, while the Fair Work Act should be amended to include explicit anti-harassment rights, according to Victoria Legal Aid.
A senior FWC member has flagged a potential "revolution" in the way the tribunal assesses agreements should a full bench review being sought by IR Minister Kelly O'Dwyer find weight must be given to indirect as well as direct discriminatory terms.
IR Minister Kelly O'Dwyer's latest challenge to a contentious, newly-minted Melbourne fire brigade agreement is heading to the FWC for a hearing on Monday, with her bid for a stay order coinciding with the deal's scheduled start date.
The FWC has told an employer that it must accept responsibility for a "suboptimal" workplace culture that it could have reset before sacking two senior wharf workers who verbally abused a female colleague, but it upheld their dismissals for behaviour that "crossed the line".
The FWC has approved a Melbourne fire brigade agreement after it accepted undertakings that override terms that hindered workers going part-time and allowed their union to block flexible working arrangements, while a challenge is still on foot to an earlier finding that discriminatory deals can still get up.
The operator of a multi-billion dollar offshore gas project is being sued for gender discrimination, a former employee alleging the company paid her less than men, refused to cover travel costs, and took adverse action by downgrading her duties when she made complaints in the course of her job.
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.
The Department of Foreign Affairs has rejected a recommendation by Human Rights Commission President Rosalind Croucher that it pay more than $120,000 in compensation to a labour hire IT worker it discriminated against because of his criminal record.
A company that withdrew an offer of employment when it discovered the potential employee's criminal record has paid her $2500 compensation and revised its global recruitment and HR practices, after the AHRC found it discriminated against her.
