Wage rises in private sector enterprise agreements remain marooned at 2.6%, while public sector increases have dropped back to recent trends, according to new Attorney-General's Department data that appears to confirm that the pandemic has accelerated the long-running decline in bargaining.
Reserve Bank Governor Philip Lowe has today added a new reason to his long list of why employers are not lifting wages - the "laser-like focus on costs" that has become the "predominant mindset" of many businesses.
The RBA has slightly raised its wage growth forecast, noting that it will almost entirely be driven by the private sector as public sector wage caps remain in effect.
Woolworths has succeeded in having reference to its own no-cost alternative inserted into an opt-out notice to be sent by law firm Adero to current and prospective class action members claiming underpayments estimated in the hundreds of millions.
Ahead of its appearance today before the Senate inquiry into the Omnibus IR Bill, the Centre for Future Work has warned that as Australia experiences an unprecedented period of low pay growth, the legislation's changes "will exert additional downward pressure".
The RBA is warning that wage growth won't be "materially higher" for at least three years, while Centre for Future Work analysis suggests that the proposed Omnibus Bill provision permitting approval of BOOT-failing agreements will further hamper any recovery in pay rises.
A marijuana-smoking supervisor who allegedly resigned after declining a drug test has had his unfair dismissal claim thrown out because a "project uplift" allowance of at least 25% counted as earnings that pushed him beyond the high-income threshold.
The coronavirus pandemic has cut growth in the Wage Price Index in the private sector to the lowest level in its 23-year history, the ABS has confirmed today.
Today's Federal Government economic and fiscal update forecasts record low wages growth of 1.25% in 2020-21 due to the recession induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.