The SDA has strongly defended its tying of bargained pay rises to the FWC's annual safety net rises, pointing to inflation-beating increases over the past seven years enjoyed by 100,000 Coles workers, as voting opens today on the retailer's proposed four-year deal in the face of a RAFFWU campaign to reject it.
The Senate has passed legislation to raise federally-funded paid parental leave to 26 weeks by 2026 after crossbench senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock secured $10 million to help small businesses administer the scheme.
The FSU has told a Senate inquiry that employees suffering from perimenopause or menopausal symptoms should have a right to apply for flexible work, while Maurice Blackburn says an ability to work from home, access extra paid leave and take longer breaks greatly improves engagement.
An employer has failed to convince the FWC that it should reduce a worker's redundancy payment from 13 weeks to six, finding that although it secured another job for him on the same pay, losing private use of a company car meant the role was not "substantially the same".
A labour law expert has told a Senate inquiry he supports the Albanese Government's Bill to remove criminal sanctions from right to disconnect laws but he believes there should be a new requirement for all agreements to contain a disconnection rights term.
The FWC has identified 11 award provisions, extending to overtime, reasonable additional hours and on-call, that might interact with new terms to entrench the right to disconnect, ahead of the new laws taking effect in late August.
Queensland's Miles Government says it will carefully consider a QCU push for 10 days paid reproductive health leave, including for IVF, painful periods, vasectomies and cancer screenings, while ACTU Congress will debate backing it as a national policy.
The FWC is inviting final comment on proposed variations to 147 awards to reflect the elevation of superannuation to a guaranteed NES right under last year's Protecting Worker Entitlements legislation.
A casual real estate agent's application has spurred the FWC to vary the industry's award to clarify working hours and associated car allowances, accepting evidence that he had not been paid for the time involved in travelling up to 100 kilometres directly from home to conduct open inspections.