The Productivity Commission is urging parliamentarians to pause and potentially ditch moves to mandate guardrails for "high-risk AI", flying in the face of the recommendations of a government department and a union push for pre-agreed employment safeguards.
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.
Union industrial officers are increasingly being supplanted by external IR lawyers, with the phenomenon most pronounced in "organising" unions, according to the principal of a boutique union-clientele law firm.
Shelving a major retail award conditions buy-out bid while the Albanese Government pursues penalty rate reforms would be a dereliction of duty, the Australian Retailers Association has told the FWC.
Century-old Restaurant and Catering Australia has applied to register as an employer organisation in an apparent attempt to differentiate itself from a rival peak body established by major industry figures last year.
The FWC has published model rules for registered organisations to help them understand and comply with the Registered Organisations Act and other requirements, following a recommendation from the Booth-Hamberger review of RO regulation.
Peak employer body ACCI has warned against the FWC handing down an "above inflation" rise in its upcoming Annual Wage Review, while at the same time arguing for "no more than 2.5%" when headline annual inflation currently stands at 2.4%.
The Ai Group has hinted at a potential "consensus" in a FWC-initiated case with economy-wide implications to consider inserting WFH provisions in the clerks award, while expressing concern that it would be "unfair" to require submissions ahead of results of a survey on the issue, with the tribunal now persuaded to ditch the deadline and hold a conference.
The 25% exemption rate the Ai Group has proposed for an estimated one million workers covered by the clerical award "does not adequately compensate" for the loss of penalty rates and overtime, according to ASU national secretary Emeline Gaske.
The Australian Industry Group has expressed dismay at the "skewed" drafting of a FWC survey aiming to gather information on how the clerical award currently impedes or enables working from home.
