INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – LAW AND LEGISLATION – AUSTRALIA

Frustrated judges put fine pedal to the metal for militant union

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 24-Oct-17

Industrial relations barrister Stuart Wood notes that judges have become much more willing to impose maximum penalties on the CFMEU for breaching workplace laws in recent years. He adds that only five years ago the $A2.4m fine imposed on the union by Justice Geoffrey Flick in September would have been much lower. The Federal Circuit Court’s Judge Salvatore Vasta also recently imposed the maximum penalty of $A306,000 for breaching workplace laws but said the fine would have been much higher if he had the scope to do so.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO TRADE UNION GOVERNANCE AND CORRUPTION, K&L GATES LLP

Exploited worker told ‘keep quiet or else’ about underpayment

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 23-Oct-17

The Federal Circuit Court has ordered Haim and Rina Diamond to pay more than $A70,000 after breaching workplace laws. They were found to have underpaid employees – who were primarily foreign students or visitors on working holiday visas – more than $A34,000 over a six-month period. The couple were also accused of providing false and misleading records to Fair Work inspectors and threatening to report an employee to immigration officials for breaching the conditions of her student visa if she did not withdraw a complaint about her wages.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF IMMIGRATION AND BORDER PROTECTION

Peak penalty for ‘nefarious’ building union

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 20-Oct-17

The Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union has fined a total of $A306,000 over a confrontation between former Queensland CFMEU president David Hanna and site managers at a Brisbane construction project in 2015. This is the maximum penalty at present, but Federal Circuit Court judge Salvatore Vasta said the fine would have been much greater if industrial relations laws allowed it. He noted that the CFMEU habitually breaches industrial laws and existing penalties are not acting as a deterrent.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION, MIRVAC GROUP – ASX MGR

Labor vows crackdown on sham collective wage deals

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Age – Page: 20 : 20-Oct-17

Shadow employment minister Brendan O’Connor says the Australian Labor Party will take action to prohibit the use of "no-stake" enterprise agreements if it wins the next federal election. Labor will target companies that get a small number of employees to vote in favour of an enterprise agreement and then apply it to their general workforce, including those at other work sites. Mr O’Connor says Labor will also pursue reforms to allow employees and unions to renegotiate sham enteprise agreements via the Fair Work Commission.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR ADVISORY COUNCIL, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, CARLTON AND UNITED BREWERIES

Labor vows to end pay-slashing ‘sham’ deals

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 18-Oct-17

Labor intends to change the Fair Work Act if it wins the next federal election, to prevent what it refers to as "sham" enterprise agreements being used by companies. The Opposition’s workplace relations spokesman Brendan O’Connor says Labor wants to do away with the sort of agreements that led to the recent dispute at Carlton & United Breweries in Melbourne, namely agreements that are voted on by workers that are not actually impacted by the pay and conditions that come under the agreement.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CARLTON AND UNITED BREWERIES, ESSO AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, ACTU, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Senator baulks at Turnbull union bill

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 16-Oct-17

The future of the Federal Government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill is in doubt after Senator Nick Xenophon warned that union officials could be subjected to higher standards than company directors. The Opposition has expressed similar concerns regarding the bill, which would increase the government’s powers to deregister unions, block union mergers and disqualify union officials. The bill has also been criticised by ACTU secretary Sally McManus, who says it would result in lower growth in wages. Parliament will debate the bill in coming days.

CORPORATES
NICK XENOPHON TEAM, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MARITIME UNION OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, ACTU, AUSTRALIAN MINES AND METALS ASSOCIATION (INCORPORATED), MASTER BUILDERS AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED

Senate push for stronger BOOT test

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 5-Oct-17

The Business Council of Australia has supported a Senate committee’s proposal to make changes to the "better off overall test" in the Fair Work Act to ensure that workers’ rights are protected. A BCA spokesman says addressing such deficiencies is necessary in order to enhance the enterprise bargaining system and address the issue of low growth in wages. The Labor-dominated Senate committee recommended some "fine-tuning" of the better off overall test.

CORPORATES
BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NICK XENOPHON TEAM

Push for stronger better-off work test

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 7 : 4-Oct-17

The report of a Senate committee that has been examining the issue of penalty rates has recommended some "fine-tuning" of the Fair Work Act’s "better-off-overall test" to ensure that workers’ rights are protected. The report is also believed to have concluded that workers should be entitled to trade-off weekend penalty rates in return for higher weekday pay rate in enterprise agreement negotiations, but only if they will be better off overall. The report’s other recommendations include legislative action to overturn the Fair Work Commission’s ruling on Sunday penalty rates.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Taxpayers cop up to $400,000 Hadgkiss bill

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Weekend Australian – Page: 5 : 30-Sep-17

Former Australian Building & Construction Commission head Nigel Hadgkiss has been found by the Federal Court to have breached the Fair Work Act by the Federal Court. He has been directed to pay a penalty of $A8,500 for the breach, with the sum to be paid to the Construction, Forestry Mining & Energy Union. Dave Noonan from the CFMEU said it would give the money to a refuge that helps women escaping domestic violence. Employment Minister Michaelia Cash said taxpayers would be footing Hadgkiss’s legal bill for the case. The amount is expected to be between $A300,000 and $A400,000.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

No-case sacking violates a basic freedom: Cash

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Original article by Joe Kelly, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 21-Sep-17

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says workers should not be sacked due to their views on same-sex marriage, while Employment Minister Michaelia Cash has urged employers to respect Australians’ right to freedom of expression. Capital Kids Parties’ owner Madlin Sims has caused a furore after retrenching a contractor who opposed marriage equality. The Fair Work Ombudsman would have no jurisdiction over the termination of a contractor’s employment, although lawyers say the sacking may breach anti-discrimination laws in the Australian Capital Territory.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, CAPITAL KIDS PARTIES, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, BRADLEY ALLEN LOVE, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT