The FWC has asked the Federal Government for extra resources to deal with a coronavirus-driven "surge" in unfair dismissal claims, according to the tribunal's president, who also expects the pandemic will bring about a permanent change in the organisation's operations, with many members and staff to continue working from home.
A leading labour market economist has rebutted resource employers' demands for greater labour flexibility, saying the adaptability of the current system is underlined by the way it responded to the mining boom and the subsequent crash.
Employers will soon have access to a "complete toolkit" to achieve "COVIDsafe" workplaces when their businesses "reanimate" after the coronavirus hibernation, the Federal Government promised this afternoon, while the chief medical officer addressed the question of whether the coronavirus means the end of hotdesking.
As some employers suggest that FWC's minimum wage panel might need to freeze or cut minimum pay due to the coronavirus crisis, the UK has lifted its wage floor to 60% of the median.
The Morrison Government's second COVID-19 economic response package contained $30 billion-plus in cashflow support that amounted to a separate wage subsidy to JobKeeper, according to Treasury, which also revealed today that more than half a million employers have enrolled in JobKeeper.
The four big banks are establishing hotlines for employers seeking bridging finance to make JobKeeper payments to employees and some 456,000 workers have applied for early access to super, according to the Morrison Government, which today expressed hopes of maintaining its "excellent working relationship" with the ACTU into the post-coronavirus economic recovery.
Virgin Australia will continue to operate with its 10,500 strong workforce kept in employment and accessing the Morrison government's JobKeeper wage subsidy, according to its administrator, Deloitte, while the Federal Government has appointed a former Macquarie Bank leader to liaise with the administrator.
Labor will lobby the Senate crossbench to overturn the Morrison Government's new regulations that cut the notice period that employers are required to give employees of changes to enterprise agreements.
The Registered Organisation Commission's challenge to the Federal Court's quashing of its investigation into the AWU's past donations is set to be heard next month, while the regulator has completed its investigation of an employer organisation and is awaiting advice on whether it will deregister before taking further action.
A Sydney University think tank has warned that a post-coronavirus reversal of globalisation could reduce labour productivity by up to 12%, when Australia could enjoy a 9% labour efficiency boost by matching world-leading levels of internationalisation.
