In a potential signal ahead of this year's annual wage review, New Zealand will next month raise its minimum wage by 6% on the back of higher-than-expected inflation.
The FWC's minimum wage panel has revealed that it is developing a consumer price index for low paid households and a budget of discretionary items required to participate in society, while one of its members says the pandemic will make that already difficult task even more complex.
The UK Labour Party has opened its annual conference by pledging to follow the New Zealand example of introducing "Fair Pay Agreements", as part of a "New Deal" for Britain's 31 million workers.
Woolworths has confirmed it will pay the 2.5% minimum wage increase to employees from the first week of next month, avoiding a repeat of the dispute it had last year with retail unions over the timing of pay rises to workers in its supermarkets and Big W stores.
The FWC has approved a 2.5% increase in all award rates in its minimum wage ruling handed down this afternoon and has again delayed rises for sectors most affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The ACTU's latest submission to the FWC's minimum wage panel has seized on Federal Budget forecasts that wage growth will lag behind inflation until 2024-25, arguing it is a "mystery" who else has the power to influence that trajectory.
FWC seeks to identify incidence of workplace FDV policies; Casual terms review timetable pushed back; and AiG calls for reduction in minimum pay delays for COVID-hit sectors.
The ACTU in its submission to this year's minimum wage review will seek a 3.5% increase across all award rates, maintaining that pay growth is crucial for the post-pandemic economic recovery.
Woolworths has agreed to pay more than 100,000 workers delayed increases contained in four of the group's agreements, after the SDA agreed to withdraw legal proceedings commenced this week.
The SDA has failed to head off a double whammy for retail workers whose Sunday penalty rates fall this week despite a delay to minimum wage increases, after an FWC full bench found there was no presumption they should be aligned.
