The FWC has upheld the sacking of a hospital operating theatre cleaner who spent 44% of his working time, excluding breaks, in a tea room, but has scolded the employer for its "faintly ridiculous" arguments against allowing him to "meticuously review" damning CCTV footage.
A CFMMEU official who had already clocked almost $40,000 in penalties for entry breaches has today landed a $10,000 personal payment order for entering a site to exercise an OHS right, just a month after surrendering his permit.
A tribunal has upheld the dismissal of a marijuana-smoking prison officer, while noting the potential for "mischief" in the suggestion that her proclivity could produce an unconscious bias in assessing inmates.
A Sydney University think tank has warned that a post-coronavirus reversal of globalisation could reduce labour productivity by up to 12%, when Australia could enjoy a 9% labour efficiency boost by matching world-leading levels of internationalisation.
Aviation unions will tomorrow convene crisis talks on the future of the virus-hit Australian industry, which will include Virgin Australia chief executive Paul Scurrah and an architect of the industry superannuation movement, Garry Weaven.
The IEU is challenging moves by several Victorian independent schools to stand down teachers as they manage the effects of the coronavirus and the shift to remote learning, arguing they are unlawful because the schools can find useful work for the teachers to perform.
The FWC, in contrasting redundancy decisions delivered on the same day, has agreed to slash the payment a small, pandemic-affected business must make to a worker, but has rejected another employer's bid to do the same for three of its former employees.
A senior FWC member says the tribunal cannot issue interim anti-bullying orders merely because there is a serious question to be tried, while it has made it clear to a worker that such an order is not a tool to prevent her dismissal until her matter is determined.
FWC President Iain Ross will this afternoon hear a joint application by the UWU and the Australian Hotels Association to vary the hospitality award 2010 to help businesses to save jobs as the coronavirus crisis bites.
