Large numbers of retail employees covered by agreements approved in the second half of last year face wage freezes if employers succeed in their campaign for a coronavirus-driven pause in minimum pay rises such as that adopted during the GFC, new Attorney-General's Department data on bargained wage rises reveals.
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.
Workers' wages will continue to grow at about 2.2%, similar to the current WPI, partly because the forthcoming 0.5 percentage point rise in compulsory super payments will be mostly funded by forgone pay rises, according to the RBA.
Annual growth in private sector rates of pay excluding bonuses has hit a four-year high for the second successive quarter, rising 2.4% to March, according to ABS data released today.
Queensland employers will have to pay a substantially higher base salary for newly-hired HR and IR managers, according to a remuneration survey released today.
Average wage increases in private sector agreements approved in the September quarter have reached 3% a year for the first time since 2016, according to Jobs Department data released today.
The ACTU has released a new paper which argues that most casual workers get nowhere near the 25% loading due to them, instead receiving a "modest wage premium" of 4% to 5% more than permanent employees.
The ACTU will today promote a blueprint for "deep structural reform" to improve the lot of working women, which includes axing the use of a "male comparator" that has delayed an equal pay case for early childhood teachers since 2013.
Labour costs have fallen for the second successive quarter to leave an annual decline of 1.2% in trend terms, while productivity has continued to rise, according to ABS national accounts data released today.
The FSU has told the Hayne Royal Commission that in following its terms of reference by examining remuneration practices in the banking and finance sector, it should also scrutinise an associated issue - target-based performance management.
