A tribunal has awarded a firefighter $10,000 in general damages and more than $13,000 in backpay, after finding that the NSW Fire Brigade denied him training and promotional opportunities because he was blind in one eye.
The NSW IRC has recognised for the first time that inadequate staffing levels can be an OHS hazard, in a case that a senior lawyer says could open the way for unions to use the OHS Act as a vehicle for their industrial agenda.
CCI WA tells HR Nicholls conference the State's labour reforms have led to a tenfold increase in AWAs; HR Nicholls' Evans calls for big bang bills ahead of double dissolution; Labour market academic says there's no doubt cutting wages boosts jobs; Phillips warns on ILO proposal; and Harnisch paper now available.
While ACTU secretary Greg Combet initially "cautiously welcomed" the today's Living Wage decision, he said the $17-a-week increase "could have been better".
The ACTU estimates around 85% of the 1.7 million award-dependent workers will receive the $17 first-tier safety net increase granted by the AIRC today, while the remainder will receive the $15 second-tier rise.
Drug and alcohol use only affects a small minority of workers and does not warrant subjecting the entire workforce to "a discriminatory and invasive policy" such as random testing, according to AWU national secretary Bill Shorten.
A company that sent its workers home on full pay ahead of a protected lockout might have unlawfully coerced its workforce to make an agreement, following a Federal Court interlocutory ruling today.
Bargaining has come to a halt at the Health Insurance Commission after five months of negotiations, with the CPSU saying the employer now won't talk on key issues until after the Federal Budget is announced next week.
