The SDA has strongly defended its tying of bargained pay rises to the FWC's annual safety net rises, pointing to inflation-beating increases over the past seven years enjoyed by 100,000 Coles workers, as voting opens today on the retailer's proposed four-year deal in the face of a RAFFWU campaign to reject it.
A labour law expert has told a Senate inquiry he supports the Albanese Government's Bill to remove criminal sanctions from right to disconnect laws but he believes there should be a new requirement for all agreements to contain a disconnection rights term.
The FWC has identified 11 award provisions, extending to overtime, reasonable additional hours and on-call, that might interact with new terms to entrench the right to disconnect, ahead of the new laws taking effect in late August.
A FWC full bench has granted the TWU an intractable bargaining declaration at a second Cleanaway site, in Wollongong, ahead of a hearing to consider a determination for the waste giant's Erskine Park site in April.
A casual real estate agent's application has spurred the FWC to vary the industry's award to clarify working hours and associated car allowances, accepting evidence that he had not been paid for the time involved in travelling up to 100 kilometres directly from home to conduct open inspections.
Closing Loopholes 2 provisions that substantially increase penalties for breaching the Fair Work Act should prompt employers to consider boosting their investment in payroll systems and checking compliance, Adelaide University Professor of Law Andrew Stewart says.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has this morning introduced legislation to ensure that employers that flout right to disconnect "stop orders" cannot face criminal charges.
The Greens says they have secured support from the Albanese Government and Senate crossbenchers for a legislated right for workers to disconnect from "unreasonable" out-of-hours contact from their employers.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke says that talks about introducing a right to disconnect have shifted away from fines for offending employers and towards an "absolute ban" on them penalising workers who disengage outside working hours.
IR Minister Tony Burke says the Albanese Government is "not there yet" in talks with key crossbenchers ahead of this week's Senate debate on its Closing Loopholes No 2 legislation, while consultations on including a "right to disconnect" are tackling the role of fines.