The Attorney-General's Department will open a consultation process in December on six of the outstanding recommendations in Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins' landmark Respect@Work report, but the Opposition says the timeline leaves no room for legislation ahead of the federal election, expected by May.
WA's McGowan Government has again introduced legislation boosting anti-bullying and sexual harassment laws, inspector powers and penalties for non-compliance as part of an overhaul of its State IR system.
The NSW Supreme Court has backed the State government's use of Public Health Orders to make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for certain categories of workers, dismissing arguments that the directions compromised objectors' "right" to choose what they put in their bodies.
The more than one million retail workers need more stable rosters, better pay and greater job security, along with flexible and affordable childcare, to enable them to meet their caring responsibilities, according to a new university study commissioned by the SDA.
The FWC has introduced two new forms aimed at smoothing the processes around casual conversion disputes and addressing agreement anomalies arising from new casual employee definitions.
The Fair Work Act's stand down provisions enabled employers to shift the pandemic's economic risks to employees, according to new analysis by IR law experts Anthony Forsyth and Andrew Stewart, who also say legal uncertainty about the provisions could imperil the stand down strategies used by companies such as Qantas as business gradually resumes.
The insights gained from the rapid shift to working from home during COVID-19 could lead to the adoption of a "genuine consultation" requirement under the Fair Work Act's "right to request" flexibility that might start "a conversation aimed at reaching a mutually suitable arrangement", according to a new paper by two leading IR academics.
Vaccination mandate for WA resources sector; CFMMEU preparing to expel rioting members; FWO claws back underpayments for hotel quarantine security guards; High Court to consider jurisdictional question.
In a decision further clarifying when clients can be legally represented in workplace matters, a Queensland IRC member has confirmed he has no power to involve lawyers in underpayment cases.
The UK Labour Party has opened its annual conference by pledging to follow the New Zealand example of introducing "Fair Pay Agreements", as part of a "New Deal" for Britain's 31 million workers.
