A tribunal has thrown out a union official's claim he was discriminated against on the basis of his psychological condition and industrial activity, instead finding that his dismissal after five months off work followed an "impossible" demand for assurances he wouldn't be sacked for outstanding disciplinary matters.
Virgin Australia can use pilots' entire final pay to meet increasing costs of training new recruits if they leave within three years, under a domestic pilots' agreement that the FWC has approved despite finding it "likely" that the clause is not a permitted deduction.
The FWC has thrown out the ABCC's latest bid to block a high-profile CFMMEU leader from visiting worksites, warning that any future applications will need "actual evidence" that he controlled officials and failed to address their actions.
In a significant decision on the FWC's power to deal with clashes between agreements and state laws, a tribunal member has found that jurisdiction was established by a combination of health and safety considerations and the absence of legislative reference to exclusive arbitrators.
In a significant addition to the jurisprudence around "arrangements" between transferring businesses, the FWC has rejected union arguments that the urgent use of an old employer's pathology equipment after a midnight handover should lead to continuing employees being retained on their existing, more generous enterprise agreement.
In upholding the dismissal on medical grounds of a prison officer who was later declared fit, the FWC has noted his union gained permission to obtain a second opinion but also assisted him in making an ill-fated decision not to pursue it until after his termination.
Two days after being labelled the Turnbull Government's "beloved political attack dog" upon receiving an $8.1 million fillip in the Budget, the Registered Organisations Commission has confirmed two inquiries into financial reporting irregularities by employer bodies.
So-called 'comic' employment contracts replacing dense legalese with images have been coolly received by both the peak employer and employee bodies, each expressing a preference for the power of words when it comes to interpretation and enforcement.
An FWC full bench has reserved its decision in a case that looms as a significant test of what constitutes a new activity for the purposes of making a greenfields agreement.
