Discrimination and equity page 86 of 88

A woman who was convicted of conspiracy to import cocaine and sentenced to more than four years in jail has been cleared to work as a teacher after a tribunal found a government department was wrong to refuse her a working-with-children check.

The Federal Court has found the balance of convenience favours reinstating a warehouse officer to his position at Peabody Energy's North Goonyella coal mine, pending the hearing of his union's claim that the company took adverse action when it dismissed him because of his Type 1 diabetes.

ACCI says the new safety net established by modern awards in 2010 cured any gender-based pay inequities, in a submission to the Fair Work Commission full bench that is hearing a bid by three unions to win equal remuneration for child care workers.

The FWC's new anti-bullying jurisdiction is likely to subject the "largely unregulated" workplace investigations industry to long-overdue scrutiny, and might give rise to questions about whether employees can lawfully refuse employer directions to cooperate, according to Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein.

The Fair Work Commission has rejected an anti-bullying application from a paid carer, ruling he was not a "worker" under the new laws, while also outlining other arrangements that would fall outside the jurisdiction.

The NUW has withdrawn its precedent-setting application for bullying orders on behalf of a group of labour hire workers.

Fair Work Commission bullying orders that are ambiguous or lack an end date might be susceptible to challenge, according to a senior IR lawyer.

In dismissing corporate director Kate Shea's general protections case against EnergyAustralia, the Federal Court has ruled that employment complaints must be based on genuinely-held grievances and not made for an ulterior purpose if they are to form the basis of a workplace right.

Gender reporting requirements for businesses with more than 100 employees will stay as they are for another year, while new minimum reporting standards will apply to non-government employers with more than 500 employees from October, Employment Minister Eric Abetz has announced.

A Fair Work Commission full bench headed by the tribunal's president will hear submissions next week on whether unions can lodge bullying order applications on behalf of workers.