IR Minister Christian Porter has flagged that he is looking to change key awards so that permanent part-time employees can agree to work extra hours at their usual rates of pay as required, leading to less reliance on casual work.
Support among workers for performing their duties from home, compressing their hours and job sharing has increased dramatically during COVID-19, according to university research commissioned by the FWC as it considers inserting a WFH clause in the clerical award.
Working from home is here to stay and will be "more effective for all" if it is supported by formal policies, hours are "relatively fixed hours" and it is voluntary, according to one of two university studies commissioned by the FWC as it considers inserting a WFH clause in the clerks award.
In a decision underlining the perils faced by workers who are not covered by awards or enterprise agreements, the FWC has found an employer had no statutory obligation to consult an employee about its plans to make him redundant.
RBA's modest wage growth hopes; Case to test employers' vaccination policies; Clerks award flexibilities extended until March; and Grace retains Palaszczuk Government's IR portfolio.
The FWC is likely tomorrow to extend COVID-19 flexibilities in the clerical award until the end of March, after the ACTU agreed not to oppose the move, while unions and employers are continuing to negotiate on proposed "enduring" working from home provisions.
A five-member FWC full bench has today given any objectors until Monday to respond to its "provisional view" that it should extend COVID-19 paid pandemic leave provisions in three major health awards for five months.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus is hopeful that agreement can be reached on a legal definition of casual employees, despite the Morrison Government's IR working groups ending with recriminations between union and employer groups.
The FWC has used the further extension of COVID-19-related flexibilities in the clerks award to advance its campaign for enduring changes in working-from-home arrangements, calling on employers and unions to report back on possible variations to address the issue by early next month.
The FWC has extended COVID-19 flexibility clauses in 74 modern awards until the end of March, while employers are proposing to follow the same path for the clerical award in the face of union opposition.
