The insights gained from the rapid shift to working from home during COVID-19 could lead to the adoption of a "genuine consultation" requirement under the Fair Work Act's "right to request" flexibility that might start "a conversation aimed at reaching a mutually suitable arrangement", according to a new paper by two leading IR academics.
Real unit labour costs have risen for the third quarter in a row, as coronavirus-driven reductions unwind, while private sector productivity has dropped for the second time in a year, according to ABS national accounts data released today.
A parliamentary inquiry into the future of the working week will probe questions such as whether the disruption caused by COVID-19 has created an opportunity and impetus for introducing a four-day week.
Employers once said to be facing up to $38 billion in casuals' backpay claims have welcomed today's High Court confirmation that contracts are decisive in determining employment types, while workers' representatives have come out swinging.
A traffic management company seeking a deal paying night workers shift loadings instead of higher overtime rates even if they don't take over from a preceding shift has lost its appeal bid after refusing to give an undertaking to overcome the deficiency.
The MUA says a landmark four-year agreement deal at the Port of Melbourne's "robo-terminal" will lead to conversion of 75% of casual jobs to permanent roles and introduce new protections against outsourcing and contracting out.
Retail employers and their part-time employees will be able to agree to extra hours by text message or email, under changes to the industry award that followed a request from the IR minister.
The FWO has begun prosecuting retailer Woolworths for allegedly substantially underpaying salaried managers who had been subject to annualised salaries.
A full bench has quashed a finding that a meatworker is not entitled to payment for time involved in putting on and removing PPE during a half-hour unpaid meal break, but has held an employer's silence did not give the FWC power to arbitrate on the before- and after-work requirement.
