Ahead of the May 3 poll, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is supporting a real pay increase in this year's minimum wage case, going further than his 2022 election call for the FWC to ensure workers' pay not "go backwards".
In a decision upending unions' understanding of what constitutes the base rate of pay under the pilots award and undoing an underpayments claim, the FWC has held that it does not include general wage-related allowances even where they form part of the minimum payment.
Ahead of a 10-day full bench hearing of a bid to significantly shake-up the retail award, the ACTU has hit out at employers backing measures to "buy-out" core conditions for workers on as little as $53,680 a year, ditch "smokos" and introduce split shifts.
Professionals Australia has found the inclusion of a disconnect clause in an agreement or award doesn't go far enough and has drafted a model policy to drive the cultural change necessary to enable workers to exercise the right, which took effect in August for most workers.
The FWO has published a guide to the newly-declared voluntary code for small businesses - said to be a blueprint for employers of all sizes - to protect themselves from criminal liability under Closing Loopholes wage theft provisions from January 1.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is taking a labour hire company to court for unlawfully deducting $500 fines from migrant workers' pay when they breached its drug and alcohol policy.
The MEU has opened up another front in its continuing battles with BHP, claiming in a new Federal Court case that the mining giant is breaching award provisions by failing to give its Operations Services in-house labour hire workforce Christmas and Boxing Day off and not seeking majority support for regular shifts in excess of 10 hours.
The proposed "right to disconnect" modern award clause is "mostly suitable", but should clarify that the entitlement is a "workplace right" within the meaning of the Fair Work Act's general protections provisions and specify the dispute resolution procedure to follow, an employment and contract law academic says.
A FWC full bench has won support from unions and employers for suggested variations to casual employment clauses in awards to avoid friction with Closing Loopholes changes that take effect next month, although the Ai Group has raised a "related issue" it contends needs to be resolved as part of the case.
Four weeks ahead of employees winning a legislated right to disconnect, public service employers have been told they will need to train HR professionals and managers about the interaction of the new entitlement with general protections laws and consider updating job descriptions to ensure they "accurately reflect" expectations about after-hours contact.
