A full Federal Court has ruled that two housekeepers who were pushed onto Odco-style independent contractor arrangements continued to be employees after the purported conversion, but also found that their employer had not contravened the Fair Work Act's sham contracting provisions.
The head of the Fair Work Commission's anti-bullying panel has highlighted the key cases in the new jurisdiction's first year, and revealed that many employers are failing to follow their own internal procedures when dealing with bullying complaints.
Employers are likely to rely more heavily on zero tolerance drug and alcohol policies to discipline or dismiss employees, even when there is no evidence of impairment, after an important full Federal Court ruling yesterday.
The Fair Work Act's provisions for ending safety-threatening industrial action are broader than those of its predecessor, a senior FWC member has ruled in her reasons for suspending planned NSW power industry stoppages earlier this month.
The Federal Circuit Court has rejected a worker's claim that she was dismissed because she refused to work overtime with a co-worker rather than because she had assaulted her several months before.
In its first full bench examination of the Fair Work Act's reinstatement provisions, the FWC has ruled it has no power to attach conditions to orders returning dismissed workers to their jobs.
In a decision that considers the relevance to his employment of a public servant's conduct outside working hours, a Fair Work Commission full bench has ruled that the ATO had a valid reason to dismiss him because his incarceration meant he couldn't carry out his role.
Just months after retiring as a senior Fair Work Commission member, Brendan McCarthy has launched an extraordinary attack on the tribunal's role and operation, claiming it is not the appropriate body to establish minimum standards, its members lack economic competence, and it misallocates resources.
A four-member Fair Work Commission full bench has ruled that the tribunal has the power to insert in modern awards a provision penalising employers for late payment of wages, but has left it to another bench to decide next week whether the proposal has merit.
