WFD: Senior Deputy President Peter Richards has found the Fair Work Commission has discretion to issue its own interim orders to stop industrial action outside of the boundaries of the specific interim order requirements. However, SDP Richards declined to issue the interim order Thiess sought against the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (C...
FWC discretion remains for orders to stop industrial action: SDP
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High Court parties spar over employment right to wellbeing
WFD: The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has sought to argue against the implied term of mutual trust and confidence in employment contracts by arguing that non-monetary benefits such as wellbeing are not employment rights. CBA was responding to High Court submissions by ex-employee Stephen Barker that argued the implied term of mutual trust a...
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Bullying laws could reach into social media: Maurice Blackburn
WFD: Workers may be able to claim bullying by social media under new workplace bullying laws even if the perpetrator is not at work or the worker is working from home, Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein has argued. In an article published in this month's Law Institute Journal , Bornstein and lawyer Emeline Gaske contend the reach of the new...
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MEAA moves to appointed CEO
WFD: The Media Entertainment Arts Alliance (MEAA) federal council has voted to replace its directly elected federal secretary with a council-appointed CEO. The MEAA federal management committee said the controversial change was designed to create clearer lines of responsibility. It follows the gradual replacement of elected federal assistant secret...
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Employer reward for non-strikers not adverse action: Judge
WFD: The Federal Court has held an employer's handing out of $300 gift cards to employees who chose to work during a strike was not unlawful adverse action or discrimination against the strikers. Justice Tony Pagone ruled Jeld-Wen subsidiary Corinthian Industries and Corinthian subsidiary Baltic Doors - door-frame manufacturers - did not act for a ...
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‘Lying' not enough to stop MUA winning PABO
WFD: The Fair Work Commission has ruled that moral notions of lies and misrepresentation are too narrow and “unrealistic” when considering whether a bargaining party is genuinely trying to reach agreement. Commissioner Danny Cloghan made the ruling when granting the Maritime Union of Australia's (MUA) protected action ballot order in it...
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FWC paperwork failing led to procedural unfairness
WFD: A Fair Work Commission full bench has adopted a flexible approach to erroneous general protections applications by finding the cmn's failure to clarify the appropriate basis of the application amounted to appellable error. The full bench - Vice President Graeme Watson, Senior Deputy President Jonathan Hamberger and Commissioner Ian Cambridge -...
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Roy Morgan to pay full appeal costs despite stay order win
WFD: Roy Morgan's refusal to drop an appeal and its rejection of a settlement offer were unreasonable acts subject to costs because it ignored a Fair Work Commission (FWC) warning its case was weak, a FWC full bench has found. The bench ordered the company to pay full costs after noting it could not rely on a qualified stay order to argue its appea...
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Redundancy vote not adverse action
The Federal Circuit Court has found a club did not take adverse action by deciding to make a manager's role redundant at a board meeting without first consulting her. Judge Shenagh Barnes found the manager's rights to consultation only existed after a “definite decision” was made about the redundancy and not at the proposal stage. Eliza...
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History of policy not EA term
WFD: A Full Federal Court has rejected a claim by the Australian Rail Tram Bus Industry Union (ARTBIU) that the way a disciplinary policy had historically been applied was enforceable under an enterprise agreement (EA). Stevan Uzelac and the ARTBIU alleged Yarra Trams' refusal to conduct an independent inquiry into a dismissal breached an EA clause...
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SA Employee Ombudsman charged
WFD: South Australian (SA) Employee Ombudsman and former textile union branch secretary Stephen Brennan has been charged with 67 counts of fraud allegedly committed while at the union. Brennan was Textile Clothing Footwear Union (TCFU) SA/Tasmania secretary from 1991 to 2006, when he was appointed SA Employee Ombudsman. On March 6, 2014 SA Police's...
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Audit to scrutinise Labor over ‘abused' childcare fund
The Commonwealth Auditor-General will examine the Labor government's $300m fund to deliver pay increases for childcare workers following a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report that raised concerns about the inequitable implementation of the fund. The audit, which has extensive powers to access C'wealth information including cabinet documents, will &...
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Coal operations return to normal
In a breakthrough this week, the Rail Tram and Bus Union have reached an in-principle agreement with Aurizon following a lockout and two strikes involving the Hunter Valley train drivers ( WF19042 ) . For more see WFNSW .
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FW Bill submissions due April
Submissions for the Senate education and employment committee inquiry into the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2014 are due by April 24, with a report due six weeks later. Last week, Workforce incorrectly said submissions were due by June. June 5 is the deadline for the committee's report.
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Editorial team
Editor: David Marin-Guzman, (02) 8587 7682, david.marin-guzman@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: Paul Karp. Journalist: Steve Andrew. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Product code: 314021719075. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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Diary
Qld IR Society New Anti-bullying Jurisdiction seminar: March 27, Brisbane. Speakers include Commissioner Peter Hampton. More info here . NSW IR Society Conference: May 23 to May 25, Leura. Speakers include FWC President Justice Iain Ross and University of Adelaide Law Professor Andrew Stewart. More info here . AMMA Australian Resource People Summit...
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20 year olds to get adult wage
At presstime, a Fair Work Commission full bench dealt unions a victory as it ordered changes to the retail award so 20-year-olds with more than six months' experience with their employer are paid adult wages. The bench found age-based discounted rates were still justifiable but there was little difference between the work of 20 and 21 year olds in ...
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Govt to axe special protections for cleaners and textile workers
The Federal Government will abolish procurement guidelines which enforce industrial instruments, IR laws and industry codes of practice through government contracts, removing special protections for workers in the cleaning, and textile clothing and footwear (TCF) industries. The guidelines also give access rights to unions. On March 20, as part of ...
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Ambulance Victoria argues journo ride-alongs not industrial action
Victorian paramedics have agreed to hold off on implementing a novel industrial action that would have involved inviting journalists and politicians onto ambulances to observe the industry “crisis”. Ambulance Victoria (AV) yesterday sought a Federal Court injunction against the action, which had been due to kick off tomorrow. AV argued ...
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AiGroup wants forced annual leave
The Australian Industry Group (AiG) has advocated called for award clauses allowing employers to force employees workers to take annual leave during close-downs and when leave balances are “excessive”. The proposals are part of AiG's submissions in the four-yearly modern award review of annual leave, the first common issue to be heard i...
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