WFD: The High Court has rejected the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union's (CFMEU) challenge to the existence of a tort of intimidation, leaving intact a Vic Court of Appeal judgment as the highest Australian authority to substantially confirm the tort (WF 23/01/15) . The CFMEU challenged the appeal court decision as part of its bid to overth...
High Court rejects challenge to tort of intimidation
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Withdrawing offer of ‘new role' was really a termination: FWC
WFD: The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has rejected a law firm's defence to an adverse action claim that it did not sack an employee but merely decided not to offer him a new role. Deputy President John Kovacic said he would continue to hear the claim the lawyer was sacked for raising a bullying complaint because the ‘new role' was just a propos...
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CFMEU ‘harassed' female FWBC officer with late night phone calls
WFD: Vic Police are said to be revisiting an investigation over an alleged “three and a half year campaign of harassment” by Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) Vic officials John Setka and Shaun Reardon against a female FWBC inspector. The alleged campaign included late night phone calls from CFMEU assistant secretary Rea...
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Vic is hotbed of industrial action: ABS
WFD: Working days lost to industrial action has risen with the construction industry accounting for 43% of all days lost at the start of the year. More than half all days lost were from Vic. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) industrial disputes data released June 4 showed 20,400 days were lost to strikes in the March quarter, with 14,600 em...
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ETU NSW ‘freezes out' 25-year veteran after TURC evidence
The Electrical Trades Union (ETU) NSW has dropped long-serving assistant secretary Paul Sinclair from its official election ticket. The move came after he gave evidence to the Trade Union Royal Commission that ex-NSW secretary Bernie Riordan failed to first approve a $500k loan to the ALP NSW with the executive. Appearing on summons at the cmn this...
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Diary
Committee for Economic Development of Australia : ‘Digital disruption and Australia's future workforce'. June 16, Melbourne. More info here . Australian Workplace Relations Study conference, Fair Work Commission : June 25-26, at University of Melbourne. More info here . ALP national conference : July 24-26, Melbourne. More info here . Austral...
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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, Annie Lawson. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Product Code: 314021719645. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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Qld parliament reverses Newman's public service IR laws
The Qld Labor government and crossbenchers have undone a number of the Newman govt's changes to IR laws which restricted public servants' collective bargaining rights and imposed 24-hour notice requirements on right of entry. The Qld parliament passed Labor's Industrial Relations (Restoring Fairness) Amendment Bill 2015 last night (June 4) ( WF 24/...
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Jackson delay again imperils her defence to $1.4m HSU claim
The Federal Court will consider summary judgment against former Health Services Union (HSU) national secretary Kathy Jackson after she filed an affidavit late in the union's $1.4m civil case against her. HSU national secretary Chris Brown told Workforce the matter had been listed for directions today (June 5) before Justice Richard Tracey due to Ja...
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Requirement to deal with ‘difficult' clients not bullying
An employer's shift from a “moribund” management culture to a high performance one that increased work intensity and staff turnover did not amount to workplace bullying, the Fair Work Commission has ruled. Commissioner Tim Lee found employee AB's bullying claims against job seeker service Salvation Army Employment Plus - including requi...
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Judge orders 457 visa sponsor to pay $300k for migration breaches
The Federal Court has ordered an employer to pay a higher level of compensation to several subclass 457 visas workers it underpaid after clarifying salary entitlements under the Migration Act. It held an employer is liable for underpayments if it pays subclass 457 visa workers below the salary prescribed for their visas, and not just the minimum ra...
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Court to hear adverse action claim of alleged w/comp sacking
The Federal Circuit Court has tossed out a preliminary application seeking to dismiss a general protections claim by a worker who claimed he was sacked after injuring himself two months into a new job on a prison construction site. P/T Constructions argued the worker was in a partnership with the company and not an employee, that his injury was not...
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FWO defends decision not to prosecute $873k underpayment
WFD: The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has been forced to defend its record of cracking down on exploitation of foreign workers, including its decision not to prosecute a Taiwanese company which underpaid workers $873k. At Senate Estimates June 2 ALP Senator Doug Cameron asked FWO representatives why the regulator had not prosecuted Chia Tung Developme...
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New parent gets $169k damages due to job change on return to work
WFD: The Federal Circuit Court has ordered an employer to pay an ex-employee $169k for repudiating his contract after it shifted him to part-time work after he returned from a year's leave to care for his twins. The court also found the company had breached the National Employment Standards (NES) by not offering the man adequate parental leave. But...
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Dual receipt of leave and w/comp still allowed
WFD: A Full Federal Court has held injured NSW workers can continue to accrue annual leave while they are receiving workers' compensation payments, rejecting an employer's challenges that the Fair Work Act's new provisions significantly altered the dual entitlement (WF 21/11/14) . The court's reasoning is understood to mean that workers in Vic, SA,...
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Aurizon and rail unions agree on EA but court still to decide on old deals
WFD: Aurizon has reached in principle agreement on a new Qld train crew enterprise agreement (EA) with 4% a year pay rises, despite rail unions appealing the company's termination of its old agreements to the Federal Court ( WF 1/05/15 ) ( WF 24/04/15 ). The new deal comes less than a month after Aurizon terminated its expired EAs, putting pressure...
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Pilot on hook for training costs after lying to employer over job interview
WFD: The Federal Circuit Court has ordered a pilot to pay his ex-employer $32,775 in training costs plus interest which he incurred before breaching his contract and “deceiving” the company to go work for Boeing. Judge Salvatore Vasta said there could be “no criticism” of the pilot's “ambition” to work for Boeing...
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FBEU NSW secretary pulls out of Greens race
WFD: Fire Brigade Employees Union (FBEU) NSW secretary Jim Casey has pulled the plug on a short-lived candidacy for a position on the Greens NSW Senate ticket for the next federal election. Casey nominated for the Greens Senate ticket shortly after being re-elected FBEU secretary by just 11 votes on April 17 ( WF 17/04/15 ). On May 21 Casey told Wo...
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FWC has power to pass bullying claims to safety regulators
WFD: The Fair Work commissioner heading the anti-bullying regime has strongly suggested the cmn has power under the jurisdiction to refer employers to work health and safety regulators for investigation. Commissioner Peter Hampton made the comments last week, although he ultimately dismissed former HPS Transport employee Richard Bassanese's bid for...
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Carer protections do not create new category of liability: judge
WFD: The new “carer” protections introduced under the Fair Work Act's adverse action laws do not extend to professional paid responsibilities, the Federal Circuit Court has ruled. Clinton Dahler's adverse action claim argued the ACT Government contravened s351 of the Fair Work Act by dismissing him because of his carer's responsibilitie...
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