Staff at the Department of Employment have overwhelmingly voteddown a 0.5% a year pay offer from their dept, the first put to a Commonwealth agency under the Federal Government's revamped bargaining arrangements. The ballot results from Wednesday (Dec 17) showed 95% (1,419) voted against the govt's proposed enterprise agreement, with an 84% partici...
Employment Dept pay offer voted down by 95%
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Employer fined $76k for $29k breach
An employer with a history of underpayments has been fined $76k for its latest breach. The penalty was more than double the actual underpayments of $29k. The Federal Circuit Court found Westlink International, which operated an auction centre in Portland, Victoria, had breached section 185(2) of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 by failing to pay re...
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Diary
‘Australian-US Comparative and Transnational Labour History Conference', University of Sydney Business and Labour History Group: January 8-9, 2015 New Law School Lecture Theatre, University of Sydney. More info here . Association of IR Academics of Australia and NZ (AIRAANZ) 29 th annual conference ‘Pacific Employment Relations': Februa...
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Season's greetings to you
Workforce editors and journalists wish you, your colleagues, families and friends safe and enjoyable festivities in coming weeks. We will return to press on Monday, January 19, 2015.
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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. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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Govt launches PC IR review
The Federal Government has announced the launch of the Productivity Commission (PC) review of Australia's Fair Work laws, due to report by November 2015.The terms of reference are identical to terms leaked in March ( WF 14/03 ). No deadline for submissions has been determined.
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Major decisions part 2
June 6: $334k fine for paying in pizza The Federal Court fined two Melbourne restaurants a total of $334k after they paid their mainly teenage workforce with pizza and soft drink ( WF13/06 ) . ( Fair Work Ombudsman v Zillion Zenith International Pty Ltd & Anor [2014] FCCA433 , 6/6/14; FWO v Bound for Glory Enterprises Pty Ltd & Anor [2014],...
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PC IR review to kick off in next two weeks
Peak business groups have welcomed the Federal Government's announcement of the Productivity Commission (PC) review of Australia's workplace relations framework, which will begin with an issues paper this month. Initial submissions are due by Friday, March 13. The PC will complete a draft report by June/July, and a final report by November, 2015.PC...
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CFMEU ACT fights back over permit dispute
Fair Work Building and Construction (FWBC) has launched Federal Circuit Court proceedings against Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union ACT branch leaders over alleged right-of-entry (ROE) breaches at three sites. But the union is seeking to return fire, revealing to Workforce it intends to sue two employers - Village Building Pty Ltd and Victo...
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Court rejects CEPU claim to recoup Metcher board fees
The Federal Court has rejected Communications Electrical Plumbing Union (CEPU) communications divisional president Len Cooper's bid to recover up to $500k in board fees from NSW postal and communications divisional secretary Jim Metcher. But the decision may not provide a precedent for union leaders to pocket fees earned as directors, with Justice ...
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Disability and misconduct separate in adverse action: Full Court
In the first ruling to substantially invoke the High Court's CFMEU v BHP Coal [2014] ( WF 17/02/2014 ) , the Federal Full Court has overturned an adverse action decision that found a lawyer's misconduct was inextricably linked with his depression when it came to reasons for his dismissal . Full Court Justices John Buchanan and Richard Tracey said t...
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Farstad breached discrimination policy in contract: full court
A ship's officer who claimed its captain bullied her has won a Federal Full Court appeal, with judges finding Farstad Shipping had breached its contractual harassment and discrimination policy in how it investigated the complaint. The case highlighted that policies can form part of an employment contract where they contain mutual obligations and mu...
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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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Voluntary public sector agreements escape Re AEU restriction
A landmark Federal Full Court decision has held the prohibition of enterprise agreement (EA) provisions that impair state governments' capacity to function does not apply if the agreements are voluntary. The ruling is a significant win for the United Firefighters Union (UFU) in its long-running battle with the Country Fire Authority (CFA) - but it ...
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Immigration proposes temporary work visa to lower entry bar
The immigration department has proposed a short-term mobility visa to allow foreign workers into Australia for up to 12 months with sponsor invitations but without labour market testing or English and skills requirements. The new visa class is proposed in a paper titled ‘Simplification of the skilled migration and temporary activity visa prog...
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CFMEU takes tort of intimidation to High Court
A special five-member Victoria Appeal Court has confirmed the tort of intimidation exists in Australia, rejecting the construction union's appeal against a judgement that it breached the tort by taking secondary boycott action against Boral (WF 24/10/2014). The Appeal Court's decision represents the highest Australian authority to substantially con...
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Miners reinstated despite Facebook and phone use on site
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has criticised how BHP Coal Pty Ltd implemented a policy after finding a mine worker was unfairly dismissed for using a mobile phone to post on Facebook while on site. And in a second case involving the same policy on the same site, FWC ordered BHP Coal to reinstate a miner because the company had considered his phone...
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More work to be done before model productivity clauses
Greater employee say over their work and leave, skills training and flexibility are viewed by employers as productivity-enhancing provisions in enterprise agreements, according to a Fair Work Commission (FWC) research report. But the ‘Productivity and innovation in EA clauses' report released in December 2014 noted more research was necessary...
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Bench split on bullying-induced mental illness as excuse for delay
A Fair Work Commission (FWC) full bench majority has rejected a former bank employee's appeal for an extension of time to dispute his dismissal. ANZ Bank Group Ltd employee Mitchell Shaw claimed he missed a dismissal dispute application deadline due to mental illness caused by bullying at work. The case revealed a major disagreement about whether d...
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Monday is good enough: full bench
A Fair Work Commission (FWC) full bench has ruled that unfair dismissal applications may be made on the next business day after the 21 day time limit where the last day is a weekend or public holiday. The decision highlighted that time limits for Fair Work Act claims will be judged by the same rules as court and other deadlines in the Acts Interpre...
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