The FWC has ordered a small business owner to compensate his "disgruntled" ex-partner after finding she withdrew money from the company account in the context of their "deteriorating relationship", not as an employee wanting to damage the enterprise.
In a decision with echoes of the CFMEU's failed opposition to a controversial non-union power industry deal that went all the way to a full Federal Court, the FWC has approved a civil construction agreement after rejecting the union's "granular" approach to explaining its terms.
A MEU lodge president with an "extensive" disciplinary record has narrowly won his job back at a South32 coal mine, but not before having his backpay halved for failing to report the safety incident that led to his sacking.
A HR professor who describes himself as "against woke nonsense" has failed to persuade a FWC member that he should recuse himself from hearing his general protections application because his chambers' email signature features the LGBTIQ+ flag.
The FWC has declined to make orders in a rare s-xual harassment dispute decision, despite forming a preliminary view that a co-worker sent "vile" and inappropriate texts to a junior employee.
The FWC has found it highly likely that a worker's Scottish accent contributed to her "this is sh*t" comment being misheard by her supervisor as "I quit", meaning the employer lacked a valid reason for her subsequent dismissal.
A paid agent claiming to have never been told of any complaints about its services has welcomed FWC suggestions to regulate the industry while insisting the Commission should "surgically" root out "bad actors" rather than take a shotgun approach that could raise costs for workers contesting dismissals.
A full Federal Court has clarified the extent to which employers must investigate alternative roles for workers caught up in restructures, finding that a mining company had an obligation to assess whether employees could replace already-engaged contractors before making them redundant.
The Law Council has endorsed the FWC's quest for stricter regulation of paid agents, but warned it off considering the "capacity" of lawyers to act for parties in cases before the Commission.
The FWC is seeking submissions on the latest phase of its research on gender-based occupational segregation, which has been released ahead of this year's annual wage review.
