THE government is currently giving “active consideration” to creating a new specialist appeals tribunal, entirely independent of the Fair Work Commission.
The case for a new approach to Fair Work appeals is strong. There are growing concerns with the quality and consistency of commission decisions and failures to properly apply long-standing precedents. Employers trying to comply with our employment laws are increasingly unable to rely on Fair Work decisions. Consider the problems the commission has created around drug and alcohol testing.
In January, Endeavour Energy was prevented from introducing urine testing for drugs and alcohol. This is despite other recent decisions backing the use of urine testing, and well-documented problems with alternative testing methods.
Click here to read the full article, published in The Australian on 5 February 2014.
