WFD: A retail employer's sacking of a long-serving manager because she refused to accept a more than $30k pay cut in her new, lower-level role amounted to unfair dismissal, the Fair Work Commission has held. Angela Johnson had worked for women's clothing company Zehut Pty Ltd trading as Urbrands for 12 years, including in senior management roles. H...
Refusal to accept pay cut not valid reason for dismissal: FWC
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On the waterfront: MUA bullying exposed in lost adverse action claim
A Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) delegate sacked by DP World for advising an employee to lie to management and calling another worker “a f--king lagger” has failed to prove he was dismissed because of his union status. The Federal Court case includes claims of harassment and intimidation by the union and male workers against two fema...
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Aurizon train drivers approve strike
Train drivers at Aurizon in Queensland have approved an unlimited number of stoppages of up to 48 hours, as two unions plan possible strikes against the company over the Christmas and New Year period. In a protected action ballot which concluded yesterday (December 10), train drivers represented by the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) approved all ac...
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No extension for worker who dodged redundancy notice
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has denied a worker an extension of time to apply for unfair dismissal after finding she had been ‘wilfully blind' to her dismissal by dodging repeated notice of her redundancy for almost a month. Payroll manager Elke Kirsch started work at ThyssenKrupp Polysius Australia Pty Ltd (TKPA) in November 2012. In earl...
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Overseas search needed for genuine redundancy: FWC
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has granted compensation to a consultant it found was unfairly dismissed because his employer did not look for overseas assignments before making him redundant. The decision highlights the need for employers to properly understand where employees whose roles they consider redundant are willing to work rather than just...
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Editorial Team
Editor: David Marin-Guzman, (02) 8587 7682, david.marin-guzman@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: Paul Karp. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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Aurizon train drivers approve strike
WFD: Train drivers at Aurizon in Queensland have approved an unlimited number of stoppages of up to 48 hours, as two unions plan possible strikes against the company over the Christmas and New Year period. In a protected action ballot which concluded on December 10, train drivers represented by the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) approved all action...
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Murray report flags removing super from IR system but not yet
WFD: The Murray Financial System Inquiry has recommended enterprise agreements (EAs) should not be able to mandate superannuation funds and the government should consider replacing the default fund selection process with auctions or tenders to improve competition. But the inquiry stopped short of calling for an immediate abolition of the Fair Work ...
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NZ Labour looks to adapt to ‘future of work'
WFD: The New Zealand Labour Party will confront the changing face of work with a major two-year study to address issues including the digital revolution, job insecurity, self-employment and contract work. Announcing the ‘Future of Work Commission' on December 1 in his first major speech as NZ's new Labor opposition leader, Andrew Little said ...
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Full Court cautions against ‘good faith' requirements for complaint
WFD: The Full Federal Court has cautioned against “too readily” implying any constraint on the employee's right to make a complaint, including that the complaint must be genuine. However, the court said it was unnecessary to resolve the issue after finding primary judge Justice Julie Ann Dodds-Streeton had not erred in dismissing former...
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MD's comments over ‘blokey' trips is bullying
WFD: The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has said a managing director's “put down” of a senior manager during after-work drinks with colleagues was unreasonable conduct under anti-bullying legislation. However, FWC said it was unnecessary to determine whether the conduct was “at work” after finding no future risk of bullying beca...
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FWC must determine if casual's days off count as ‘service': bench
WFD: The Fair Work Commission (FWC) is set to determine whether a casual employee's days of not working were unpaid “authorised absences” that count towards the minimum length of service required for unfair dismissal claims. A full bench - Vice President Adam Hatcher, Deputy President Anne Gooley and Commissioner Leigh Johns - referred ...
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CPSU predicts Abetz's dept will vote down first public sector deal
WFD: The employment department began voting on a proposed enterprise agreement (EA) on December 10, with the Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) predicting an emphatic rejection of the below-inflation pay offer. Employment minister Senator Eric Abetz's own department is the first public sector agency to vote on an offer, with voting to close o...
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Unsworn evidence was unfair to employer: bench
WFD: A Fair Work Commission full bench has quashed an unfair dismissal decision because Commissioner John Ryan inappropriately gave a self-represented applicant the option of giving unsworn evidence without discounting its weight due to the absence of cross-examination. The case reinforced that the cmn should warn a witness that giving unsworn evid...
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Dismissal valid way to deal with ‘unresolvable' office conflict
WFD: An employer had a valid reason to sack an employee to resolve an interpersonal workplace conflict, even though the worker may not have been primarily at fault and the co-worker could have been fired instead, a Fair Work Commission full bench has held. Bremick Fasteners sacked Jacqueline Lumley on March 3 after an altercation with co-worker Nik...
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IEU claims employer doctored fixed-term contracts
WFD: The Independent Education Union (IEU) has brought a Federal Court civil penalties case against a school for allegedly doctoring its employment contracts to cover up that it hired teachers on fixed term contracts in breach of the award. The IEU Victoria Tasmania branch represents Georgia Butters Cain, a teacher it says worked at the Australian ...
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DP World faces strikes and lockouts across the country
WFD: DP World will lock out its workforce in Sydney and Melbourne after the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA) announced strikes in those cities and Fremantle starting on Thursday (December 11), in moves which will affect operations for up to 32 hours. The strikes come after 10 months of bargaining in response to what DP World says is its “fin...
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La Trobe job security clause didn't stop spill'n'fill: Fed Court
WFD: The Federal Court has rejected a union claim that La Trobe Uni breached its enterprise agreement (EA) by conducting a spill and fill of some positions, finding an aspirational statement against forced redundancies did not prohibit the practice. On October 9, 2014 La Trobe conducted a major restructure which included terminating 280 employees' ...
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Success rate on unfair dismissals climbs with new data
WFD: Unfair dismissal claims finalised by arbitration have an average 50% success rate, according to new and more accurate data recorded over the past year. The latest quarterly reports for the July to September 2014 quarter showed the Fair Work Commission (FWC) received about 3,668 unfair dismissal claims, which is about the 3,500 average since 20...
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Editorial Team
Editor: David Marin-Guzman, (02) 8587 7682, david.marin-guzman@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: Paul Karp. Journalists: Steve Andrew. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Product code: 314021719445. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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