An employer who tried to take advantage of a young employee whose aunt had just died has been ordered to pay her $15,000 in damages for sexual harassment and discrimination.
The ACTU told the AIRC today that there was a strong economic argument for lifting minimum wages to $494 a week, while Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews again commended the UK's model for setting minimum wages and made it clear he wanted workers earning more than the federal safety net to bargain for pay rises.
An employer who made a worker redundant because of her family responsibilities, including caring for a terminally ill mother, has been ordered to pay the employee $5,664 in lost wages.
More than 80% of requests for flexible work arrangements have been fully or partly accepted by UK employers since the Blair Government introduced "right to request" provisions in April 2003.
On the eve of the AIRC hearing what might be the last national wage case, the ACTU has written to PM John Howard asking him to guarantee his Government's plans to change pay-setting arrangements won't cut the value of workers' real wages.
The Howard Government's plan to create a unitary IR system by moving the regulatory underpinnings from the Constitution's labour power to the corporations power is a radical shift that the High Court might be obliged to curb, according to Sydney University Dean of Law, Ron McCallum.
New airline startup OzJet is looking to labour hire companies to fill all back-of-house jobs, but it intends to hire employees directly for its customer service roles.
Productivity stalls on the docks; New jobs for Bennett and Billing; Former AIRC presidential members say Howard Government wage case claims "inaccurate and misleading"; New super policy to keep older workers in the job; and Greens MLC to introduce private member's bill to protect workers' entitlements.
The NSW Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the State's Fire Brigades against a finding that it discriminated against a firefighter who was blind in one eye when it denied him training and promotional opportunities.
The NSW Court of Appeal has ruled a delivery driver was an independent contractor, on the basis that his ownership of a truck, ability to designate a substitute driver and treatment as a PPS taxpayer all weighed against him being categorised as an employee.
