Wesfarmers decision delayed – again; Employers can't be forced to negotiate State agreements, says Queensland IRC; Process worker who used chicken as a football refused reinstatement; Childcare rebate brought forward; and Tourism Australia employees vote down non-union deal.
Queensland businesses employing fewer than 15 employees will continue to be exempted from severance pay obligations, after a State IRC full bench rejected unions' bid to introduce a level playing field.
In a blow to the Building Industry Taskforce, the Federal Court has thrown out its claim that a head contractor terminated the contract of a subcontractor because he failed to join the CFMEU. The court said that the Taskforce's case faced "apparently insurmountable difficulties".
A cafe has been ordered to pay $2,500 in damages for discriminating against a 46-year-old chef who responded to a job advertisement that sought an employee to join a "young team".
ANZ increases paid parental leave to 12 weeks; Electrolux legislation gets Royal Assent; Victorian OHS legislation passes; New leaders for Unions Tasmania and Unions WA; Counsel moving digs; 18,000 AWAs registered in November; and Andrews questions salary sacrificing in matters pertaining test case.
Qantas has struck an in-principle three-year deal with the ASU that pays a 3% annual wage increase to some 10,500 employees, while NUW members have voted down their proposed new deal with the airline.
Both employer bodies and unions will argue that salary packaging pertains to the employment relationship when an AIRC full bench in Adelaide next Monday and Tuesday hears a crucial test case on what can be included in enterprise agreements.
We're not IR extremists, says PM; Wesfarmers delayed until next week; Victoria to seek broad definition of matters pertaining in next week's test case; Today marks centenary of Conciliation and Arbitration Act; $26m payout to former Ansett workers; and AIRC full bench overturns reinstatement of DEWR employee sacked for credit card fraud.
A female underground mine technician has won a two-year battle to establish that she was unfairly dismissed when her employer made her position redundant while she was on maternity leave. It then failed to provide her an alternative position with comparable status and equivalent pay.
An employer was less than considerate towards a working mother when it unilaterally changed her working hours, but it didn't unfairly dismiss her for failing to start on time, the AIRC has ruled.
