New provisions for intractable bargaining workplace determinations have taken effect after the Closing Loopholes No 2 Act yesterday received Royal Assent, while other key provisions, such as the right to disconnect and the new definition of casual employment, are set to begin in late August.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency has revealed a NDIS health service, the Energizer battery giant and an investment and logistics company have the largest median total remuneration gender pay gaps, while construction topped the list on an industry basis, under new laws requiring the agency to annually report the performance of companies with 100-plus employees.
Closing Loopholes 2 provisions that substantially increase penalties for breaching the Fair Work Act should prompt employers to consider boosting their investment in payroll systems and checking compliance, Adelaide University Professor of Law Andrew Stewart says.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has this morning introduced legislation to ensure that employers that flout right to disconnect "stop orders" cannot face criminal charges.
The Albanese Government plans to introduce a bill at the end of the week to remove the threat of criminal penalties from its Closing Loopholes right to disconnect provisions that are slated to pass Parliament today, but the Coalition has pledged to repeal the measures if it wins the next election.
Labour academics analysing the Closing Loopholes No 2 Bill ahead of its expected passage into law say the right to disconnect signals a "momentous societal shift" in the value placed on work, wellbeing and private time, while gig work reforms are "world leading" but they question the narrowing of casuals' pathway to permanency.
The Senate this afternoon passed the Closing Loopholes No 2 legislation after accepting amendments advanced by the Albanese Government, the Greens and crossbench senators David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie and Lidia Thorpe.
The Albanese Government has put forward a bundle of its own amendments to the Closing Loopholes legislation, including a requirement that collective agreements covering regulated employee-like gig economy workers and road transport workers meet a public interest test.
The Greens says they have secured support from the Albanese Government and Senate crossbenchers for a legislated right for workers to disconnect from "unreasonable" out-of-hours contact from their employers.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says that talks about introducing a right to disconnect have shifted away from fines for offending employers and towards an "absolute ban" on them penalising workers who disengage outside working hours.
