Today's edition is the final Workforce for 2012. The Workforce team wishes you, your colleagues and families a safe and happy festive season. We next publish on January 25, 2013 with Workforce Daily returning on Jan 29.
Signing off ....
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Editorial team
Editor: Rajiv Maharaj, (03) 8684 2139, rajiv.maharaj@thomsonreuters.com . Chief Journalist: David Marin-Guzman. Journalists: Steve Andrew, Paul Karp. Managing Editor: Peter Schwab. Product code: 314021718515. Twitter: @WorkforceTR
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Time to refocus the IR agenda
One of the most significant IR events of 2012 was the Fair Work Act review panel's measured thumbs up to the Fair Work Act and sensible recommendations for reform. One might have expected the IR debate to wind down following the considered and factual assessment from the panel, made up of respected IR academic Ron McCallum, former Federal Court jud...
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2012 Best & Worst in IR
IR figures on 2012, and hopes and fears for 2013: Workplace relations minister Bill Shorten Best: Australian workers are better protected than ever before - we've secured equal pay for community sector workers, locked employees' entitlements in law, protected the rights of public sector workers, established safe rates for truckies and established t...
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The IR Lawyers
Giri Sivaraman, Maurice Blackburn Best: The full Fed Court decision in Informax International v Clarius Group restoring utility to the Commonwealth unfair contract jurisdiction for independent contractors. Worst: The High Court decision in Barclay v Bendigo TAFE paradoxically reducing protection for employees exercising workplace rights or engaged ...
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Final word ... FWO Nick Wilson
The principle of there being “a fair go all round” is the guiding light for the Fair Work Ombudsman as we close the book on another year and ready ourselves for 2013. An appropriate New Year's resolution might be to “do unto others as you would have them do to you” - and never, ever practice “psychic” management!...
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FWA pushes clarification on part-day public holidays
Fair Work Australia Commissioner Peter Hampton has recommended the full bench make immediate changes to modern awards to clarify the definition of ‘day' in part-day public holidays to avoid uncertainty in the lead up to Christmas and the New Year. Cmr Hampton's report followed South Australian IR Minister Russell Wortley's request for an urge...
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FWA refuses to outlaw OHS in mod awards
WFD: Employers have lost a bid to remove OHS provisions from modern awards. FWA's modern awards review full bench has dismissed arguments put by the Master Builders Association (MBA) and backed in part by the Ai Group and other employer groups about health and safety. They claimed Division 2 of Part 1-3 of the FW Act "has the effect that provisions...
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Broad Facebook EBA clause restricts after hours conduct
WFD: Employers are increasingly using a broad template clause in enterprise agreements to restrict social media use outside of work hours, including indirect use by third parties. Fair Work Australia has expressed concern about the clause in some cases and requested undertakings that limit it to only material contrary to the interests of the employ...
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Bench quashes decision for refusal to adjourn for absent applicant
WFD: A Fair Work Australia full bench has quashed a decision upholding the summary dismissal of a WA childcare centre director after finding a refusal to adjourn proceedings when she could not attend due to illness was a jurisdictional error and a denial of natural justice. The bench - Senior Deputy President Matthew O'Callaghan, Deputy President R...
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Collateral advantage unfair dismissal claim not vexatious
WFD: Unfair dismissal proceedings brought by an employee to seek a "collateral advantage" such as leverage to gain an unpaid bonus or using the media to "harass or embarrass" the employer is not by default a vexatious claim, Fair Work Australia has ruled. Commissioner Julius Roe made the finding in a costs application by Home Theatre Group Pty Ltd ...
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ANZ targets performance, while FSU gains consultation rights in draft EA
WFD: The Finance Sector Union (FSU) and ANZ have agreed to an in principle enterprise agreement, which could deliver 12%-plus pay increases over two years for star performers. The proposed deal is strongly linked to performance targets, with high performers set to pull in salary increases of 6.5% in 2012 and 5.75% in 2013. However, most of the bank...
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High Court throws out 'wasteful' PSA challenge to NSW wages policy
WFD: A High Court judge has excoriated the Public Service Association (PSA) for its "empty" constitutional challenge to state laws that require the NSW IR Commission (IRC) to "give effect" to the state government's 2.5% wages policy. Justice Dyson Heydon slammed the union's case as a waste of "time, money and effort" in comments supporting the unan...
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RDO mistake triggers $30k payment
WFD: The Federal Magistrates Court has ordered CSR to pay 11 workers more than $30,000 in total plus interest for failing to provide rostered days off from April 2011 to May 14, 2012. The Construction Forestry Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) brought the proceedings on behalf of day and shift workers at CSR's Erskine Park glassworks plant in New South W...
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Unfair dismissal claims surge
WFD: The number of unfair dismissal claims lodged under the Fair Work Act surged to a record high at the end of last year, while protected action ballot orders (PABOs) plunged to new lows. The latest Fair Work Commission quarterly reports released this week showed that from October to December 2012, workers lodged 3,867 unfair dismissal claims. Tha...
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Abetz tables motion to repeal national building code
WFD: Opposition workplace relations spokesperson Senator Eric Abetz has tabled a motion of disallowance in Parliament to repeal the new national building code. The Building Code 2013 took effect on February 1. WR minister Bill Shorten claimed it would cut red tape by making it easier for contractors to comply with a number of workplace laws includi...
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Katter calls for FWC arbitration change; Abbott to jail union officials
WFD: Independent MP Bob Katter has introduced a private members Bill in Federal Parliament seeking to allow the Fair Work Commission's to arbitrate disputes if they have run for more than three months.The Fair Work Amendment (Arbitration) Bill 2013 seeks to amend s595 of the Fair Work Act. It encompasses wider powers for the tribunal to intervene i...
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FWC pilots decision summaries
WFD: Fair Work Commission president Justice Iain Ross has announced it will pilot publishing decision summaries alongside important decisions to "assist stakeholders to better access and understand" them. Justice Ross warned they were not a substitute for the published reasons themselves. The FWC would publish them "for matters involving or impacti...
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Amendments to improve parental entitlements
WFD: The Federal Government will expand protections for pregnant women at work and increase flexibility for parental leave. Workplace relations minister Bill Shorten said the proposed changes would include increasing the entitlement for parents taking unpaid leave together from three to eight weeks. Parents would also be able to choose when they ca...
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ANZ retrenchment may be 'unfair' but not adverse action
WFD: A Federal Magistrate (FM) has slammed ANZ's handling of a long-serving employee's redundancy while he was on leave, but ruled there was no evidence to infer it was adverse action. FM Dominica Whelan criticised ANZ for its lack of transparency and "substantially subjective" retrenchment of foreign exchange sales associate director Simon Wolfe, ...
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