Employers are seeking work-from-home-related changes to the clerks award to make it easier to spread out working hours without requiring penalty rates, remove minimum engagement restrictions and overhaul meal and rest break provisions.
A FWC full bench led by President Adam Hatcher has abruptly ended conciliation of the crucial clerks award WFH case after a "highly regrettable" leak of confidential information to the media, while issuing a broader warning that participants should respect processes conducted behind-closed-doors.
The FWC has rejected a host employer's argument that de-boning chickens is specialist work that would fall under the service provision exception, and has made same-job, same-pay orders covering two labour-hire companies that provide workers to a poultry processing plant.
Labor maintains that its legislation to protect penalty and overtime rates, to be introduced to Parliament tomorrow, will block changes to awards that might make a single worker worse off.
An expert FWC panel headed by President Adam Hatcher has decried the Albanese Government's "proposed usurpation" of the Commission's role while rejecting an ASU request to delay consideration of gender-undervaluation changes in a major award.
A Federal Circuit and Family Court judge has urged the Albanese Government to "substantially" increase penalties for failing to engage with compliance notices and to empower the FWO to seek the removal of directors, to prevent recidivism and deter directors and companies from ignoring notices.
The MEAA has rejected an ABC deal that would have provided a 3% interim pay rise while prohibiting employees from taking industrial action for six-months while they push for 5.5% pay rises each year and a guarantee that AI will not replace human workers.
The FWC has this week reserved its decision on the first dispute over a same-job, same-pay order, after the MEU challenged Workpac's plan to pay on-hire workers at a Queensland coal mine only two months of a 12-months bonus.
The SDA has lodged a new supported bargaining application seeking to cover 115,000 McDonald's workers across the country, off the back of its recent win in South Australia.
On-hire workers employed by BHP's in-house labour provider and its external suppliers have today won same-job, same-pay orders, after a FWC full bench rejected arguments that the service provider exemption and a "fair and reasonable" requirement stood in the way.
