Canberra asks FWC wage panel to maintain jobs; PM urges employers to take JobKeeper "guarantee" to their banks; Opposition raises JobKeeper issues with Government; FWC floating new coronavirus statutory declaration requirements; and Coronavirus crisis no time for AMMA proposal, says Porter.
The FWC has called on the ACTU to urgently step in and take the lead on settling disputes between several unions and Qantas over the airline's refusal to pay sick leave to workers stood down due to the coronavirus.
A full Federal Court has quashed an FWC full bench agreement variation ruling that endorsed a senior member's belief that he could not consider evidence about the intended meaning of a clause because he did not interpret it as ambiguous.
The ACTU has resisted employer arguments to delay any rise in minimum pay, while it has accepted that the annual wage review timetable should be amended to enable the expert panel to consider national accounts data that is likely to identify the early economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described his government's close consultation with the Opposition in drafting legislation to give effect to the JobKeeper coronavirus wage subsidy program that will be put to Parliament next week, while joining IR Minister Christian Porter in thanking unions for their cooperation in achieving "massive" temporary IR changes.
The FWC has moved on its own initiative to introduce two weeks' unpaid "pandemic leave" for millions of award-covered workers, as the coronavirus crisis continues.
The FWC says the first application to vary an enterprise agreement in response to the coronavirus will be heard by a full bench to determine whether the "exceptional circumstance" provisions apply.
The FWC has expedited the hearing of the restaurant industry's bid to vary its award to boost hours and leave flexibility as it shifts to a COVID-19 business model based on takeaways and home delivery.
A senior Victorian public sector lawyer who failed to establish that agreement terms had been incorporated into his employment contract has been ordered to pay his employer the $200,000 in costs it sustained through its undertaking to keep him in his job until the finalisation of the case.
The coronavirus pandemic requires a temporary but fundamental reconsideration of the Fair Work Act's safety net, according to a joint bid to vary a key award to provide substantial operational and hours flexibility.
