WFD: The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has ordered Toll Holdings to reinstate a worker despite finding he made a racist remark to a colleague. Commissioner Bernie Riordan found Toll treated the incident inconsistently and unfairly given the context of a toxic work environment with allegations of racist remarks on both sides of a divided workforce at i...
Toll sacking for racist comment in ‘toxic' workplace was unfair: FWC
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Cmn erred in refusing compensation to unfairly sacked worker
WFD: A former IBM employee - who had pubic hair deliberately placed on her desk as part of an alleged pattern of bullying and harassment - has been awarded $30k compensation by a Fair Work Commission full bench. The bench - Vice President Michael Lawler (in his first appeal ruling in 15 months), Senior Deputy President Anne Harrison and Commissione...
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Sea change for MUA with state branch election upsets
WFD: The Maritime Union of Australia has had two upset results in its state branch elections, with revolutionary socialist Bob Carnegie taking the Qld top spot and long-term incumbent Vic branch secretary Kevin Bracken being overthrown by a “ticket for change” group. Meanwhile, Will Tracey continues his inexorable climb through the Mari...
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FWO 'no assistance' in 'aggressive, threatening' claim: court
WFD: The Federal Circuit Court has fined a childcare centre serving disadvantaged communities just $14k out of a maximum $280k for underpaying three workers and blasted the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) for its “unnecessarily aggressive” and “disproportionate” prosecution which would have bankrupted the employer. Judge Michael L...
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Posties-sparkies transfer powers bite the dust in CWU plebiscite
WFD: Communications union members have delivered a resounding rebuke to proposed changes that would have given their state branch committees of management authority to transfer to the electrical or plumbing divisions within the Communications Electrical Plumbing Union (CEPU). About two thirds (63%) of voting members from the postal and telecommunic...
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Judge warns of deregistration after fining CFMEU Qld half a million
WFD: The Federal Court has slapped the Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) Qld branch and its officers with a $545k fine for unlawful coercion, and warned a union which persistently breaks the law “cannot expect to remain registered”.Justice John Logan blasted the union's unlawful picket of a Grocon site in Brisbane and si...
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Diary
ALP national conference : July 24-26, Melbourne. More info here . Australian Mines and Metals Association : August 6-7, at Pan Pacific, Perth. Speakers include Stuart Wood QC, Kate Carnell and Senator Zhenya Wang. More info here .
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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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Employer needed to do more for retrenched employees: full court
The Full Federal Court has ruled that employers need to do more than just “facilitate” opportunities for retrenched employees to find new jobs if they want to discount redundancy payments. The Full Court rejected an employer's appeal that the bar for an employer to “obtain” new employment for workers under Fair Work Act s120...
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Registered Orgs Bill closer to being double dissolution trigger
The lower house has passed the Registered Organisations Bill, returning it to the Senate where it may provide a double dissolution trigger if rejected again. The bill was voted down in May 2014, and was rejected again by the new Senate in March 2015 due to opposition from Labor, the Greens, the then two Palmer United Party Senators, and Senators Ja...
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Hundreds of job losses flagged as Australia Post records $500m loss
Australia Post will record a half a billion dollar loss in its letters business this financial year, leading to up to 1,900 job losses over the next three years. The move has led to national union calls for CEO Ahmed Fahour to resign. WorkforceDaily understands the 1,900 job cuts are a ball park figure and the company has committed to all being vol...
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Riordan made ALP loan without union approval: Stoljar
Trade Union Royal Commission (TURC) counsel assisting has recommended the cmn find that Fair Work Commissioner and former Electrical Trades Union NSW secretary Bernie Riordan made a $500k loan of members' money to the ALP NSW without union or executive approval. At presstime, counsel assisting Jeremy Stoljar submitted that Cmr Dyson Heydon also fin...
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HSU Vic No1 secretary loses entry permit after cheating
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) is set to revoke the right of entry (RoE) permits of three Health Services Union Vic No 1 branch officials, including secretary Diana Asmar, upholding findings they cheated on their RoE training. At presstime FWC Vice President Graeme Watson found that on January 29, 2013 Asmar made an inaccurate declaration that she ...
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Govt moves to reduce union reps on industry super boards
Employee and employer representation on superannuation boards would be cut from one half each to at most one third each to make way for independent directors, under a Federal Government plan to reduce union control of industry super boards. Assistant treasurer Josh Frydenberg today (June 26) released draft legislation “to improve governance i...
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Less than half of food industry compliant: FWO
Almost 60% of restaurants, cafes and catering companies breached their workplace obligations and 42% short-changed their workers a total of more than $1.2 million in 2012-13, a Fair Work Ombudsman spot check has revealed. Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said 1,066 employers in the industry were asked to supply their 2012-13 time and wages records...
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Unions claim China free trade agreement threatens local jobs
Up to 5,000 Chinese working holidaymakers will be allowed to extend their employment in northern Australia as part of the China Free Trade Agreement signed last week. In what will be Australia's largest work and holiday program, young Chinese nationals can extend their visas from six to 12 months if they are working in certain industries- and apply...
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FWC filing fee increase and income threshold
Next week (July 1) the filing fee for dismissals, general protections and anti-bullying applications will increase to $68.60 . Also effective from 1 July, the high income threshold in unfair dismissal cases will increase from $133k to $136,700 . The compensation limit will increase from $66,500 to $68,350 for dismissals on or after July 1, 2015. Me...
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Alex royal cmn evidence a ‘cacophony of lies': whistleblower
One of the whistleblowers who raised concerns about the construction union's links to organised crime has denounced as lies the notorious underworld figure George Alex's claims that he and another union whistleblower had met Alex to get “dirt” on the union's city branch. In his evidence to the Trade Union Royal Cmn (TURC) on Wednesday (...
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Bench questions veil of legal privilege over bullying investigation
A Fair Work Commission full bench has said DP World Melbourne's reliance on an investigation report into bullying to dismiss an employee raises “serious” issues as to whether it has waived legal privilege relating to it. The bench has directed the cmn member hearing the unfair dismissal claim to consider the issue after upholding an app...
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FWC kills off workplace survey despite clamour for more data
Fair Work Commission (FWC) general manager Bernadette O'Neill has revealed last year's Australian Workplace Research Survey (AWRS) is very likely to be its last, despite union and employer representatives using the AWRS conference to request more data to back their IR claims. Opening the AWRS conference on the 2014 report ( WF 30/01/15 ), O'Neill s...
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