The Albanese Government has outlined for the first time the details of how it might implement its "same job, same pay" proposal that it framed to ensure labour hire arrangements are not used to undercut employees' pay and conditions.
A full bench has vacated directions to make way for a care and community sector expert panel to consider whether to extend coverage of an education award to rope-in workers in independently-operated student boarding houses.
The Catholic Council for Employment Relations is calling for a 7.2% boost to the minimum wage and the rates of many award-reliant workers to help close the poverty gap by 2030, arguing the FWC wrongly rejected its stance last year on what constitutes a safety net.
The Albanese Government will urge the FWC's minimum wage panel to award an inflation-matching increase to the lowest-paid workers, but will stop short of pushing for an across-the-board increase for workers on higher award classifications.
New RBA analysis says productivity and wages have slowed for employers in heavily award-reliant sectors and they are "seemingly less likely to attract staff and grow", but the Centre for Future Work says the answer is "stronger awards" and a collective bargaining recovery.
A dumpling chain's HR manager was knowingly concerned in its Fair Work Act contraventions and "did not simply act as a conduit", the Federal Court has held in a liability judgment, finding she also instructed and trained a colleague in a payroll scam using both accurate and inaccurate records.
The FWC's minimum wage review should order an increase that exceeds inflation, providing a real wage rise for the lowest paid, according to UWU national secretary Tim Kennedy.
Newly-appointed FWC expert panel members Marian Baird and Mark Cully will serve on this year's crucial minimum wage case bench, as inflation substantially outpaces pay growth and the Reserve Bank continues to warn against the prospect of a wage-price spiral.
The FWC has warned a radiology provider whose HR manager took an "ill-informed" position that it risks a civil penalty and underpayment claims if it requires part-timers to put in extra hours without overtime pay or agreement and fails to put working patterns in writing.