Most negotiations between employers and employees on working from home arrangements will remain outside the formal IR system, according to a new report by the Productivity Commission.
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.
The CPSU has stepped up its criticism of the Morrison Government's public sector wages policy, saying it demands that workers sign up to "unknown" pay rises beyond the first year of new enterprise deals.
After more than a decade of sub-4% growth in pay, Treasury has projected in its Intergenerational Report, released today, that it will return to that level in 2028 as productivity resumes its long-term growth path of 1.5%.
Bargained wage rises in the private sector show little sign of pushing towards the "materially higher" benchmark set by the RBA, growing at 2.6% for the second quarter in a row, while public sector bargaining collapsed.
The ABS has delivered a small boost to hopes that wages growth might exceed restrained government projections after today's quarterly figures showed an annual lift of 1.5% across the economy.
The number of Australians working from home remains almost double the pre-COVID 19 figure and women are more likely want to expand the arrangement, according to the latest ABS data on how households are faring during the pandemic.
Real unit labour costs surged in the December quarter as the economic recovery gathered pace, while profit and wages shares retreated from the record levels recorded in the September quarter, according to ABS national accounts data released today.
