Institutions, tribunals, courts page 232 of 353

In a first glimpse of common fund orders that law firm Adero plans to seek in a suite of IR class actions, the Federal Court has given hundreds of current and former Airservices Australia managers until mid-December to opt out of an underpayments case or be bound by its payment terms.

The FWC has further clarified the circumstances in which the signatures of a majority of workers can compel an employer to bargain with a union, finding that inviting employees to add their names to a petition occasionally left in an unlocked car did not reduce its force.

The Jobs Department has told a Senate Estimates hearing that it met with labour hire company Workpac following the full Federal Court's crucial casual leave decision in Skene, but that it hasn't drafted a Bill to address the ruling.

Note: This article has been updated with a clarification about former ministerial staffer Ben Davies.

A year after AFP raids on the AWU's offices, the union says that its private investigators have failed to locate the former chief-of staff to then Employment Minister Michaelia Cash to serve a subpoena on him.

An industrial tribunal has rejected a union's argument that allowing a large employer to use an external lawyer will render a general protections case "unnecessarily adversarial".

A Federal Court judge has questioned the "wisdom or fairness" of laws requiring employers to subtract four hours' pay for as little as 10 minutes unprotected action, after finding the AWU breached the Fair Work Act when an official asked a BlueScope manager not to dock returning strikers for starting a shift late.

A senior FWC member has upbraided a seasoned IR lawyer for speaking to employees of his large casino client during an unfair dismissal hearing, after it had been denied external legal representation.

A tribunal member has strongly rebuked a legal firm for its "unprofessional" behaviour in missing a deadline to file material, lamenting that unlike golf tee times, FWC directions cannot be changed "at a whim".

A reduction of more than 60% in external legal expenses has steered the construction watchdog into operating profit for the 2017-18 financial year, as it continues a recent shift to initiating fewer court cases at the same time as it has been winning record penalties against the CFMMEU.

BP Australia is seeking to terminate the enterprise agreement for its oil refinery in Western Australia, in the latest case of a big employer using what the Federal Opposition has dubbed the "nuclear option" to break a bargaining deadlock.