In the face of significant crossbench opposition, the Morrison Government has decided to only proceed with the IR Omnibus Bill's casual employment provisions, including a move to prevent so-called "double dipping" on entitlements.
In a blow to the Morrison Government's plans to overhaul the Fair Work Act, Centre Alliance Senator Stirling Griff says he will only support elements of the IR Omnibus Bill dealing with protections against wage theft and those that "provide certainty for casuals and their employers".
In an inquiry report released this afternoon, Coalition senators have acknowledged disquiet from employers and unions about elements of the Omnibus IR Bill, but are urging its passage without further amendment.
RAFFWU expects to oppose a "disastrous" joint union and Master Grocers Australia proposal to let part-time retail workers put in more hours without earning overtime, but the ACTU says it will help them lock in increased hours while combating surging casualisation.
The Morrison Government's contentious Omnibus IR Bill has moved to the Senate after a day of increasingly splenetic exchanges between Coalition and ALP members, one independent describing the legislation as a "pathetic" example of supposed compromise.
The Morrison Government's IR Omnibus Bill is likely to have a minimal, "probably negative" impact on Australia's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, a leading employment relations scholar has warned.
International Trade Union Confederation secretary and former ACTU president Sharan Burrow has told a parliamentary inquiry that the Omnibus IR Bill's casual employment provisions are likely to breach Australia's obligations under ILO conventions and recommendations, ahead of a hearing in Canberra on Friday.
The Morrison Government has agreed to drop proposed changes to Better Off Overall Test in the IR Omnibus Bill, which would have given the FWC a temporary power to approve substandard enterprise agreements for employers afflicted by the pandemic.
