As COVID-19 amplifies pressure for workers to have greater rights to "disconnect" outside of working hours, the Irish Government has asked its Workplace Relations Commission to develop a code of practice to promote the practice.
More than half of private sector clerks included in a survey to inform a possible coronavirus-driven award variation have been working from home since the middle of last year and almost three quarters of employers intend to let them continue doing so at least some of the time.
McDonald's, the sole corporation to make a submission to the Omnibus Bill inquiry, is calling for substantial amendments to casual conversion provisions and the BOOT, indicating the legislation's changes to the latter are insufficient to renew its interest in enterprise bargaining.
The Australian Hotels Association has proposed ahead of further conferences next week in the loaded rates case that the FWC extend the range of ordinary working hours when it considers simplified pay arrangements for the hospitality and retail sectors.
The ASU is challenging the ATO's COVID-19 emergency work-from-home arrangements and its ability to quickly call employees back to the office, accusing it in a Federal Court adverse action case of breaching the terms of its agreement.
Griffith University's Professor David Peetz has warned employers to consult their workers before implementing post-COVID-19 workplace changes or risk turning "disorder into chaos", ahead of today's repeal of NSW public health orders requiring organisations to allow employees to perform their duties from home.
FWC President Iain Ross has agreed to consider IR Minister Christian Porter's request that he insert loaded rates into awards for "distressed" industries and will convene initial conferences next week.
Virgin Australia will unilaterally seek support from its flight crew for a new enterprise deal, after failing to secure backing from its two pilot unions, while agreements for the remainder of the workforce have received the blessing of unions as the best they could achieve to get the relaunched airline back aloft.
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.
