A Federal Court judge has promised today to rule swiftly on whether Qantas employees stood down due to the coronavirus pandemic can access paid personal (sick) leave, carers' leave and compassionate leave.
The CFMMEU has warned it will push back against construction employers seeking to make rapid changes to enterprise agreements which cut pay and conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Labor will lobby the Senate crossbench to overturn the Morrison Government's new regulations that cut the notice period that employers are required to give employees of changes to enterprise agreements.
The Morrison Government is wrong in maintaining that its shorter notice periods for agreement variations will only have effect during the coronavirus crisis, because the resulting changes to agreements will continue for the deals' full terms, according to the shadow IR minister.
The Morrison Government has cut the notice period that employers are required to give employees of proposed changes to enterprise agreements from seven days to a minimum one day.
An FWU conference convened this afternoon to consider granting paid pandemic leave to vulnerable workers heard that the ACTU has asked Comcare and state-based workcover schemes to declare COVID-19 an occupational disease within the health industry.
The Opposition and legal experts have questioned why the JobKeeper rules appear to leave out the "one in, all in" requirement spelt out in their explanatory statement, and have canvassed what it might mean for employers wanting to negotiate trade-offs.
The IR system will need to change to deal with challenges arising from the COVID-19 "new normal" of working from home, according to a briefing paper by the Centre for Future Work.