Unions and employers have flagged support for permitting award-covered employees to extend their annual leave by taking it at half pay, in what might be the sole area of consensus arising from the work and care tranche of the FWC's modern awards review, but they are yet to agree on "safeguards".
Queensland's peak union body will push the Albanese Government to add paid reproductive health leave to the National Employment Standards in its next term, and has released a model clause to advance the claim in bargaining, as part of its "It's For Every Body" campaign.
The FWC has ordered a small business owner to compensate his "disgruntled" ex-partner after finding she withdrew money from the company account in the context of their "deteriorating relationship", not as an employee wanting to damage the enterprise.
In a decision with echoes of the CFMEU's failed opposition to a controversial non-union power industry deal that went all the way to a full Federal Court, the FWC has approved a civil construction agreement after rejecting the union's "granular" approach to explaining its terms.
A MEU lodge president with an "extensive" disciplinary record has narrowly won his job back at a South32 coal mine, but not before having his backpay halved for failing to report the safety incident that led to his sacking.
A HR professor who describes himself as "against woke nonsense" has failed to persuade a FWC member that he should recuse himself from hearing his general protections application because his chambers' email signature features the LGBTIQ+ flag.
The FWC has declined to make orders in a rare s-xual harassment dispute decision, despite forming a preliminary view that a co-worker sent "vile" and inappropriate texts to a junior employee.
The FWC has found it highly likely that a worker's Scottish accent contributed to her "this is sh*t" comment being misheard by her supervisor as "I quit", meaning the employer lacked a valid reason for her subsequent dismissal.
Three members will aid Vice President Ingrid Asbury in managing the FWC's new jurisdiction for "regulated" workers and businesses in the gig economy and road transport sector, according to President Adam Hatcher.
