A landmark ruling by the federal court sends a clear message to employers that their workplace HR policies will be legally binding as part of their employment contracts.
Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews dismissed today's mass protests against Work Choices, pointing to a lower turnout than at the union's first national day of action against the laws last year.
OWS launches new online services; Skill shortages on the horizon, but Work Choices won't help: BIS Shrapnel; Data shows collective agreements better for productivity than AWAs: CFMEU; Toll North and TWU reach deal on attendance at Work Choices rally; and Raiders win, unions rally at half-time.
As unions and workers gear up for tomorrow's day of protest against Work Choices, a partner in a law firm has advised employers to make sure sick leave isn't used to cover unauthorised absences, while a labour researcher maintains the planned rallies are "appropriate and legitimate".
Commonwealth Solicitor-General David Bennett QC showed the States no mercy during the High Court Work Choices challenge, and he was at it again recently as an after-dinner speaker at the South Australian IR Society conference.
A stockbroker who was promised a job he never got has won an extra $1.7 million, plus interest, in damages in a Federal Court appeal that extends some criteria for calculating losses for breach of an employment contract.
The AMWU has won the right to pursue a "phoenix" company for employees' entitlements lost when it assumed the same business premises, manager, assets, goodwill and phone number of their former employer when it went into liquidation.
State award-covered workers in WA have this afternoon won a $20 flat increase in their pay, lifting the minimum wage to $504.40 a week ($13.27 an hour), after the WA IRC in its State Wage Case ruling ordered an increase identical to that handed down by the NSW IRC this morning.
