Federal Treasury has told the FWC's minimum wage panel to be cautious in accepting predictions of a "very strong snapback" in the unemployment rate, as the economy re-opens after the coronavirus pandemic.
The FWC will today hold its final hearing in this year's minimum wage review, in which employers and unions are divided over whether the domestic economy has started to recover from the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.
Merivale has hit back at a class action's claims it underpaid thousands of salaried employees and others engaged under a pre-Fair Work "zombie" deal and is maintaining it can use overpayments to offset additional entitlements.
The employer application to vary key construction awards will be heard by an FWC full bench on July 8 and 9, in the face of strong opposition from building unions.
The ACTU and the Victorian Government in supplementary submissions to the FWC's annual wage review have maintained their requests for real wage increases, while the AiG has fallen into line with ACCI and backed a freeze.
Unions objecting to a joint employer group bid for coronavirus-driven variations to building awards that would allow hours to be cut to zero have today also questioned its validity, given two of the peak bodies are not registered organisations.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's plan for a dialogue with unions and employers over changes to workplace laws has sparked a scramble among stakeholders to get a seat at the table.
Thirteen major law firms have dropped their application for temporary changes to the Legal Services Award in response to the coronavirus, a month after the ASU demanded they prove the changes were necessary.
More than 200,000 award-covered fast food industry workers face temporary cuts to part-time hours and reduced overtime penalties under fiercely-contested, pandemic-related changes approved by an FWC full bench.
Large numbers of retail employees covered by agreements approved in the second half of last year face wage freezes if employers succeed in their campaign for a coronavirus-driven pause in minimum pay rises such as that adopted during the GFC, new Attorney-General's Department data on bargained wage rises reveals.
