ANZ's plan to "force" workers to return to the office for half of the working week is "short-sighted", "antiquated" and "punitive", according to the Finance Sector Union, which is also urging members at the RBA to reject a second unilateral bargaining offer.
A worker with inflammatory bowel disease has lost his bid to use the Secure Jobs Act flexible work provisions to resist a request to return to the office 40% of the time, the FWC finding it will boost his employer's ability to lift his productivity and allow others to benefit from his experience.
The FWC has upheld a major insurance provider's sacking of a work-from-home employee whose keystrokes data revealed inactivity 90% of the time, finding her circumstances "all the more regrettable" given her previous long history of satisfactory service.
The FSU is urging members at NAB to accept a revised "benchmark" agreement offer that will lift their pay by as much as 17.5% and boost the ability to work from home, but the union says the improvements are not enough for it to call off Federal Court action over excessive hours.
The CPSU says an APSC offer that presumes agencies will approve flexibility requests and stops them capping days spent working from home is "ground breaking", but the union is still preparing to take industrial action as it waits for a "considerably improved" pay offer.
Two proposed new UK laws aim to protect workers by making their time on the job more flexible and predictable, with one bill attempting to combat "one-sided flexibility" by providing the right to seek a reliable working pattern, and another making it easier to make flexible working requests.
In ordering a witness to attend a hearing in person, a NSW IRC member has highlighted "real pitfalls when evidence is not given in person" and emphasised that despite the widespread acceptance of virtual appearances at the height of COVID-19, there is no "presumption in favour of granting an order that evidence be given by [audio-visual link]".
A new set of flexible work principles for the Australian Public Service aspire to make all roles flexible - while continuing to meet organisational needs - and will provide the basis for unions and government to negotiate a common flexibility term for public sector agreements.
TPG Telecom says it used a legal documents designer and best-practice inclusivity guidelines to create an engaging, accessible post-merger deal with "amazing" conditions, but the CEPU's communications division says it delivers a pay cut and unfairly shifts the goalposts on penalty rates.
