A House of Representatives committee has begun an inquiry into the "operation and adequacy" of the National Employment Standards, after a referral from Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth.
The gender pay gap has narrowed by 0.7 percentage points to 21.1% over the past 12 months, driven by a larger increase in women's average base salary (up $3,419 or 4%) than achieved by men ($2,895 or 2.8%), the annual WGEA Gender Equality Scorecard reveals.
The Federal Court has found that disputes about same-job, same-pay protected rates should come before the FWC in the first instance, while it has agreed to stay court proceedings until the Commission determines a SJSP dispute involving Workpac on-hire workers at a Queensland coal mine.
The TWU is hoping a consent position reached with DoorDash and Uber Eats for a "world-leading" hourly-rates safety net will prompt the FWC to include the agreed pay and conditions in a minimum standards order for the industry.
Bechtel is using good faith bargaining and registered organisations laws in an extraordinary bid to exclude the Offshore Alliance and key officials from bargaining for a Pluto Train 2 Project agreement, after accusing the MEU and AWU partnership of taking an "unnecessarily provocative, obstructionist, unreasonable" approach to negotiations.
The FWC has made its first "community of interest" determination for a closing power station, clearing the way for displaced workers to be supported by an Energy Industry Jobs Plan.
A four-member FWC full bench has formally put on hold a review of the right to disconnect provisions, due to a paucity of case law, but recent commentary by tribunal president Adam Hatcher and leading labour law academic Andrew Stewart indicate the jury is still out on the reasons for the litigation deficit and the impacts of the reforms.
The FWC has ruled that Woodside's agreement does not prevent it sending offshore platform employees to work in Perth when a cyclone hits, but doubts remain about whether such a direction is lawful and reasonable.
On-hire workers at a Queensland coal mine who late last year won same-job, same-pay orders did not qualify for any portion of an annual bonus paid to the host's employees, the FWC has held, while separately finding the mine must pay the full incentive to its part-time direct employees, and those on unpaid leave or workers compensation.
The Federal Court has temporarily restrained a trustee from winding up a purported income protection fund that a FWC full bench found had paid the UFU a $1.6 million "secret commission".
