ENTERPRISE AGREEMENTS – approval – ss.185, 604 Fair Work Act 2009 – appeal – Full Bench – at first instance the Commission approved the Clinpath Laboratories – Enterprise Agreement 2017 – appellant advanced three principal grounds of appeal: that, because various pre-approval requirements were not met, the Commission could not have been satisfied that the agreement was genuinely approved; that the Commission did not properly assess whether the Agreement passed the better off overall test (BOOT); and that the Commission did not exercise its powers and functions in a manner that was just and fair – the appellant submitted that the company had provided employees with misleading information about the content of the agreement and had not taken all reasonable steps to explain its terms to employees – an explanation of a significant element of these terms, namely the removal of the ‘2 year rule’, was made only on the afternoon before the vote opened – Full Bench held it cannot be said that the employer took all reasonable steps to ensure that the terms of the agreement and their effect were explained to employees – the Commission did not take these relevant matters into consideration – Full Bench found that the Commission’s decision to approve the agreement was affected by appealable error – permission to appeal granted – appeal upheld – decision at first instance quashed – not necessary to determine the second and third grounds of appeal. Appeal by Health Services Union against decision of Johns C of 8 June 2018 [[2018] FWCA 3391] Re: Clinpath Laboratories P/L and Ors
September 24, 2018
BUPA Aged Care has a s.372 (Application to deal with other contravention disputes) before Vice President Catanzariti in his Sydney chambers (Doroja).
September 24, 2018
Hills Limited has a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) matter with which it must deal before Commissioner McKenna in Hearing Room 12-2 – Level 12 at noon in Sydney (Kulendran).
September 24, 2018
St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney Limited must face a s.372 (Application to deal with other contravention disputes) before Fair Work Vice President Catanzariti in his Sydney chambers (Harris).
September 24, 2018
The Health Services Union and Mercy Health are involved in a s.739 (Application to deal with a dispute) in front of Fair Work Commissioner Cribb in Conference Room E & F – Level 6 in Melbourne at 4.30pm
September 24, 2018
A s.185 (Enterprise agreement) application by Launceston Women’s Shelter Inc T/A Magnolia Place LWS for its Magnolia Place LWS Enterprise Agreement 2017 has been approved by Fair Work Commissioner Saunders in Newcastle on 21 September 2018.
September 24, 2018
An elderly man was “left untreated to die in pain” and health services were more intent on defending their actions than analysing the facts, a damning coronial inquest into the death of two men in Darwin has revealed. Henry Wilson, 77, died from sepsis on September 19, 2016 — but despite that, Top End Health Service never reported his case to the coroner. Rather, the case was taken on as a “discretionary” inquest — meaning it was not legally required — following the service’s “poor response” to an expert report, which found there were delays in instituting treatment. On September 18, Mr Wilson was diagnosed with peritonitis during treatment for stage 4 colorectal cancer. Coroner Greg Cavanagh found Mr Wilson “waited in pain and feeling that his body was shutting down another 24 hours until the conversation was had with him about further procedures”. “There seemed however to be a lack of urgency in making a diagnosis,” he wrote. “It took Mr Wilson’s daughter demanding something be done before scans were ordered.” Mr Wilson died one day later from sepsis. The most junior doctor on the team, an intern, was asked to break the news to his family. The coroner found Mr Wilson’s death identified a number of issues, including poor communication with the family, poor communication between doctors, poor note taking, inadequate treatment of a dying man and failure to report the death to the coroner. “The communication issues were denied by the institution and in effect the deceased was blamed. “The Top End Health Service seemed more intent on defending its actions than critically analysing the facts.” NT Health chief executive Catherine Stoddart said the department would examine the recommendations and respond “in due time”.
September 24, 2018
A Rotorua nurse convicted of laundering more than $300,000 of drug money has had her registration cancelled. The Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal last month made the decision to cancel Linda Olive Aldworth’s registration as a nurse on the basis of her criminal conviction. Aldworth was convicted of money laundering in October 2016 and was sentenced to 10.5 months home detention. Her Rotorua home and other assets were seized by police under the proceeds of crime act. The grandmother, who had been a nurse since 1974, was arrested at the conclusion of Operation Gandolf which targeted the activities of an organised criminal group which imported and distributed methamphetamine throughout New Zealand. Her husband, Mohamed Atta who was already in Rimutaka prison serving an unrelated sentence, was the ringleader of the group and organised to import drugs from a supplier in Thailand. Atta used cellphones smuggled in to prison to arrange the sale and charged a commission of $5000 per 100g of methamphetamine imported. Aldworth then received the money on behalf of her husband and distributed it to associates in New Zealand and family overseas. She also spent a significant amount buying a $24,000 car, a spa pool and a lounge suite. Over about 18 months she received more than $340,000 from unidentified sources – more than $3600 a week above her legitimate income – and operated 12 bank accounts, two of which were in her grandchildren’s names. She transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars to family and associates in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and throughout New Zealand. Among those payments were 113 transactions worth $13,000 to 61 prisoners as well as payments to a Rimutaka prison guard who had been corrupted by Atta. She admitted distributing money for Atta when interviewed by police and pleaded guilty to the money laundering charge. At the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal hearing Aldworth contended she was a suitable candidate for rehabilitation and should not have her registration cancelled. She argued the offending was not deliberate but that she “naively closed her eyes to what was happening” but now accepted what she did was wrong. “I was living in a make-believe world that he was looking after me and loving me again, without thinking about where the money was coming from,” she told the tribunal. She said she was not aware the money had come from his involvement in a drug ring. Aldworth also contended the offending had come at a vulnerable period in her life, was out of character and did not endanger the safety of her patients. She apologised for her offending. But the tribunal agreed her offending was so serious the only appropriate penalty was cancellation. “The practitioner’s offending was so serious and sustained that we consider it is not tenable to permit the practitioner to retain registration. This is not so much to punish the practitioner but rather to ensure the protection of the public and maintain professional standards for the profession of nursing,” the tribunal concluded in their decision which was released today. Aldworth now works as a kitchen steward in a hotel and has lived in a rental with her daughter and grandchildren since her assets were seized.
