In an important ruling on the reach of the NSW IRC unfair contracts jurisdiction into the domain of commercial contracts, the State's Court of Appeal majority has ruled that a large, multimillion dollar McDonald's franchise arrangement didn't have the necessary connection with the performance of work.
Employers who sign enterprise agreements that provide for private arbitration of unfair dismissal claims could expose themselves to substantial fines and damages, in addition to compensation and lost wages, according to senior employment lawyer Ron Baragry.
The High Court's Justice Michael Kirby has called for Government spending to be more transparent and accountable, and said today during the ACTU/ALP IR ad case that "that wouldn't be a bad principle for this court to lay down".
Construction employers seeking to tender for federally-funded construction work will have to revise their certified agreements to comply with extensive new revisions to the implementation guidelines for the national construction code that take effect from October 1. Changes include allowing employers to cash out employees' entitlements such as annual leave and overtime.
Prime Minister John Howard says analysis released today that casts doubt over his claim that real wages have grown by 14% in the past nine years is "fundamentally flawed".
Non-managerial workers have received a real pay increase of just 2.6% over the past six years, which falls well short of the 14% real pay increase since 1996 that PM John Howard repeatedly cites, according to analysis conducted for Unions NSW.
The TWU in NSW is seeking to build a firewall against the Federal Government's proposed IR changes - including the expanded unfair dismissal exemption - by getting transport employers to commit to recognising existing employee and union entitlements regardless of future legislative change.
A pregnant office administrator who was summarily dismissed on the "pretext" of performance issues had an implied right under common law to procedural fairness from her employer, the Federal Magistrates Court has found.
