A tribunal has ordered two male employees to resume standard business hours from next month after it upheld an employer's decision to boost operational efficiency by ending a long-standing flexible work arrangement that allowed them to leave early enough to pick up their children from school.
New RBA research provides tentative confirmation that more flexible IR laws have enabled employers to ride out difficult times by adjusting their employees' hours rather than making them redundant.
The TWU is calling on a Qantas ground handling subsidiary to provide a more regular pattern of hours and a minimum 30 hour engagement for its employees.
The Government is increasing its target for female representation on federal government boards from 40% to 50%, according to Employment Minister Michaelia Cash.
NSW Premier Mike Baird says all state government jobs will be fully flexible by the year 2019, while his government is set to introduce legislation to crack down on illegal protests.
The Queensland Government says the major review of the state's IR laws will address the powers of its tribunals in a reduced jurisdiction, changed working arrangements and "contemporary issues" such as bullying, domestic violence and work-life balance.
Workers on the Gorgon LNG project will begin voting on Wednesday on whether to take industrial action to push head contractor CB&I to offer shorter roster cycles, at the same time as parliamentary inquiries in WA and Queensland have weighed-up whether new regulations are needed for non-residential workforces.
Australia's largest rail freight operator, Aurizon, has been ordered to provide the full pro-rata rate of pay to a train driver who was to receive a reduced amount under a compassionate grounds/short-term medical disability clause when she returned part-time from maternity leave.
A tribunal has found that an employer's failure to formalise an employee's flexible work arrangements to meet her caring responsibilities led to her seeing them as an entitlement rather than a privilege, and any attempts to change them as workplace bullying.
