Rates of pay page 20 of 22

Hourly rates of pay excluding bonuses in the private sector are increasing at a record low of 2.2% a year in trend terms, according to the ABS Wage Price Index, released today.

Workers on the Gorgon LNG project will begin voting on Wednesday on whether to take industrial action to push head contractor CB&I to offer shorter roster cycles, at the same time as parliamentary inquiries in WA and Queensland have weighed-up whether new regulations are needed for non-residential workforces.

Wage growth in private sector federal agreements approved by the FWC in the March quarter dropped to the lowest level since 1991, according to the Department of Employment.

The income and compensation caps for unfair dismissal claims will increase from July 1 to $136,700 and $68,350.

The Fair Work Commission has asked Coles to make changes to its proposed supermarkets agreement, which covers about 75,000 retail workers, before it can pass the better-off-overall-test.

The Abbott Government has urged the Fair Work Commission to take a "cautious approach" in this year's minimum wage review due to below-trend GDP growth and a slower than expected recovery in non-mining sectors, while the ACTU says the small business measures in the Budget "dramatically improve the affordability" of pay rises in the award-reliant sector.

The Victorian Government has revealed that its employee expenses will grow by just over 7% this financial year, ahead of bargaining for major replacement agreements with public sector workers over the next year.

The Fair Work Commission has approved a new four-year enterprise agreement for Mount Isa Mines that doesn't provide employees with annual pay increases, instead leaving them to the discretion of management.

Coles Supermarkets is a step closer to putting to ballot a single retail deal covering 80,000 workers, after the Fair Work Commission comprehensively rejected a TWU scope order application for online delivery drivers, finding they were an "integrated and integral part" of the company's retail operations.

The ACTU will ask the Fair Work Commission for an extra 0.5% in award superannuation to compensate for the Abbott Government's freezing of Labor's scheduled increases to the guarantee levy, in its submission to this year's annual wage review to be lodged on Friday.