Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews is seeking feedback by January 31 on two discussion papers released today which outline options for the award review process, including cutting back the 4,100 state and federal awards to fewer than 20.
The main new sources for workers as the labour market contracts over the next 20 years will be women with dependents and older people, according to a new Victorian Government taskforce report, released today, that says annual growth in the State's workforce will slow from the 1.5% achieved over the last decade to 0.7% over the next decade.
APESMA is set to weather the Work Choices challenge better than other unions, with its wholly-owned recruitment company contributing strongly to the union coffers, and new plans to expand the recruitment operation into the UK.
Employers will be banned from using genetic tests to discriminate against workers unless they demonstrate an actual inability to perform the inherent requirements of the job, under legislation being planned by the Federal Government.
Employees will have to routinely seek a medical certificate from a doctor every time they are absent from work on sick or carer's leave - incurring significant costs if bulk billing is unavailable - because there is no provision in the Work Choices legislation for obtaining a certificate afterwards, the ACTU told the Senate inquiry into the bill today.
Some 60,000 public school and TAFE teachers in NSW will on Wednesday vote on whether to accept a new three-year award that provides pay rises of between 9% and 13% over three years.
BankWest will pay an annual increase of up to 4.5%, under a new two-year deal with the FSU that the bank's 2,500 employees will vote on late this month.
The Queensland IRC has refused to certify an agreement between the AWU and a Catholic nursing home for breaching the no-disadvantage test, after the nurses' union objected to the deal.
In his first public speech since stepping down from a 13-year reign as the head of the CBA, David Murray has warned employers that they will be at a competitive disadvantage if they fail to use the new tools available under the Howard Government’s second wave of IR change.
The Federal Government is extending its General Employee Entitlements and Redundancy Scheme (GEERS) to cover more workers and wages unpaid in the three months before an employer becomes insolvent.