Fair Work Commission and predecessors page 1 of 202

2014 articles are classified in All Articles > Institutions, tribunals, courts > Fair Work Commission and predecessors


No bargaining orders despite HR manager side-stepping union

The SDA has failed to win bargaining orders against a beauty retailer that froze it out of negotiations for a new deal, after a FWC member had just an hour to weigh the application before voting ended and it won resounding support.

FWC gives ASU a toilet break

ASU officials will no longer have to be escorted to the bathroom when exercising entry rights at the ATO after the FWC found it an unreasonable request, while giving union delegates "time release" to accompany them would be "frankly quite ridiculous".

CV holdouts have redundancy payouts cut

The FWC has halved the redundancy payouts for two finance workers who stood in the way of their employer's attempt to find jobs with a competitor by declining its request for updated resumes.

Familiar Seek ad provides reason for late application: FWC

The FWC has waved through a worker's late unfair dismissal application after accepting that it took seeing a job advertisement closely mirroring her role to crystallise doubts about whether she had genuinely been made redundant.

FWC reflects on "window of currency" for valid sacking reasons

In a decision assessing how long a valid reason remains "current", the FWC has overlooked serious procedural deficiencies to back a landscaping business's summary sacking of a gardener almost two months after he called a colleague a "fat exploiter of foreigners".

High Court asked to consider "genuine" redundancies

Mining giant Peabody has asked the High Court to weigh in on the "critical question" of when redundancies can be considered genuine and the extent of FWC powers to determine how employers might avoid job losses.

"Unacceptably exploitative" case referred to FWC GM

A FWC senior member has thrown out the unfair dismissal case of a Sri Lankan worker paid $300 a month as she did not meet the minimum employment period, but will refer it to the general manager for advice or to notify the authorities.

500% of award rates a bit rich: FWC bench

Employers have succeeded in varying an award clause a FWC full bench agrees could produce the "absurd" result of workers receiving five times the prescribed minimum rates.

FWC slams "dishonest" portrayal of meeting site

A FWC presidential member has taken exception to a HSU official's description of a clinical handover area as a meal room suitable for conducting meetings, dismissing it as a "self-serving label. . . border[ing] on dishonest".

Union fails to pull plug on bid for demark orders

The principal contractor on Australia's largest energy transmission project has been cleared to continue its pursuit of orders blocking the ETU's expansion into the renewable energy sector, as the union engages in alleged "guerrilla" tactics of disruption and delay.