Fair Work Australia has rejected Suncorp's claims that a work health and safety clause in its national staff enterprise agreement was merely a statement of intent and not legally enforceable. The banking and insurance giant argued the tribunal did not have jurisdiction to hear a dispute resolution application bought by employee Coralynn Brewer. Rep...
Suncorp health & safety EA clause is not aspirational but binding: FWA
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Is a farm caretaker an employee?
A Fair Work Australia full bench has allowed an appeal into an unfair dismissal ruling due to questions over whether there had been an employment relationship between a farm 'caretaker' and the property owner. However, it criticised the owner for not arguing the jurisdictional issue until the matter was before them. FWA heard Vee Kelly had placed a...
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Unemployment rate drops to 5.2%
The unemployment rate remained steady at the close of 2011, dropping slightly to 5.2%, Labour Force Figures reveal. The number of jobless sat at 629,900 in December - down 3,800 people,the Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show.However, the number of employed peopledecreased by 29,300 to 11.421m people. That drop was driven by a 53,700 reduct...
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Underpaid fast food clerks hungry for their proper pay
The owner of a Bendigo Hungry Jack's franchise has been fined $46,000 for underpaying 180 staff a total of about $100,000. The Federal Magistrates Court heard Chamdale Pty Ltd had incorrectly classified its workers over a four-and-a-half year period from March 2006. However Federal Magistrate Norah Hartnett did not believe the underpayments were de...
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Injured worker wins redundancy over failed redeployment
A Federal Magistrate has ordered a private bus firm to pay a worker more than $30,000 in redundancy pay after ruling it had closed off all employment options for the injured employee. Anthony Mifsud worked at Veolia Transport from September 1997 until March 2010, starting as a light rail driver and then moving into a shift officer role after suffer...
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Rio pushes for High Court appeal
The High Court will next month hear Rio Tinto's argument for special leave to appeal a Federal Court Full Court decision which invalidated a non-union workplace agreement. The Full Court ruled the deal made in 2008 with 10 workers at Rio's Pilbara mining operations ( WF17845 ) was not valid under the law at the time - the Workplace Relations Act 19...
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Diary
ACTU inquiry into insecure work: Submissions close today, January 20.Hearings to be held in February and March. See website . Work Health and Safety Seminar: Exploring the new OH&S legislation. Lunchtime, January 31, Chartered Secretaries Australia (CSA), Sydney. See CSA website for more details. Federal Parliament: Both Houses resume sitting o...
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FW Review to consider productivity
The Fair Work Review panel has confirmed it will examine the economic effects of the laws as part of its review into the two-year old provisions, dispelling employer fears productivity had been ignored under its terms of reference. WR Minister Bill Shorten announced the long-awaited review in December, less than a week after he was sworn into the r...
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80k fine for broken little toe
An Australia Post subsidiary has been fined $80,000 for OHS breaches including failing to provide adequate forklift training to an employee and contractor. The Federal Court heard a forklift at Post Logistics Australasia (Post) ran over and broke employee Roslyn Borg's little toe in March 2008. Borg had asked the forklift driver, contractor Kevin C...
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Vale Harry Karslake
The Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) has paid tribute to long-time supporter Harry Karslake who passed away on Boxing Day, aged 88. "Harry was a true stalwart of the Victorian BLF and the Labour Movement, whose life-long service to working people included struggles against asbestos and organising practical support for people wi...
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Editorial team
Editor: Rajiv Maharaj, (03) 8684 2139, rajiv.maharaj@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: Kate Corbett. Journalist: David Marin-Guzman. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Product code: 314021718055.
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Retailers confused by workplace laws and many underpaying staff
A quarter of Australia's retailers are breaching workplace laws, many by underpaying their staff, a Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) report has revealed. The National Retail Industry Campaign 2010-11 final report shows 492 (26%) of 1866 retail employers audited had contravened workplace laws. Just over half of those (52%) were related to underpayments. Th...
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Owner cops underpayment fine despite company folding
The owner of a liquidated Sydney printing company has been fined $8,000 for deliberately underpaying his staff for several months as the company went broke. The Federal Magistrates Court heard Robert Francis had owned and operated Beaver Press which was placed into administration in May 2010. The company could not be prosecuted due to its insolvenc...
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Vale Charlie Thomas
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has been shocked by the sudden death of a senior member of staff who had worked at the union for more than a decade. Charlie Thomas, director of the CPSU's member service centre, died from a heart attack early in the New Year. "Charlie was a much loved member of the CPSU family and was highly regarded ac...
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Editorial team
Editor: Rajiv Maharaj, (03) 9208 4559, rajiv.maharaj@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: Kate Corbett. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab.
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Job cuts at Toyota?
At press time, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) told Workforce Daily it expected Toyota to announce job cuts later this afternoon. AMWU vehicle division secretary Ian Jones said it was the union's "strong belief" Toyota Australia president Max Yasuda will announce the job cuts when he addresses workers at the company's Toyota plant...
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FWA's first workplace determination handed down for Qantas engineers
A Fair Work Australia full bench has handed down the tribunal's first s266 workplace determination ruling binding Qantas and its engineers to an arbitrated deal until December 31, 2014. The bench - Vice President Graeme Watson, Justice Alan Boulton and Commissioner Julius Roe - more or less gave effect to consent agreement terms the parties agreed ...
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CFMEU and McDonald hit with another big fine
Union heavyweight Joe McDonald has been fined $38,500 for repeatedly stalling work at a high rise building site in Perth. The Federal Court also fined his union, the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), $192,500 noting McDonald and the union's behaviour did "not demonstrate a willingness to comply with industrial law". The Federal...
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ABCC's demise will result in cost hikes and lawlessness: Lloyd
Former Australian Building Construction Commission (ABCC) head John Lloyd has slammed the Government's plans to change the BCII Act so it can abolish the ABCC. In a strongly-worded eight-page submission to the Senate committee inquiry into the Building Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (Transition to Fair Work) Bill 2011, Lloyd said the p...
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Questions over senior Qantas pilot's right to transfer
The Federal Court has refused to restrict Qantas from transferring three pilots to Brisbane after a more senior pilot claimed the company had breached its employment contract by overlooking his transfer request. Under clause 13 of the Qantas Long Haul Agreement, base transfers must be allocated on the basis of seniority to sufficiently qualified pe...
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