Australia "remains a global laggard" on work/family benefits and the next federal government should extend paid parental leave to 52 weeks, split carers and personal leave into separate 10-day entitlements, and investigate extending personal/carers and annual leave to casual workers, according to an academic group's report.
The FWC has upheld a worker's flexible work request after his employer ended an informal 13-year arrangement, in a decision reaffirming the precedence of the NES, even when it is inconsistent with the terms of an enterprise agreement.
The FWC has accepted that a company made a HR manager redundant on her return from parental leave due to her discomfort with interviewing English-speaking job candidates and downsizing directions from its Chinese head office, rather than her status as a new mother.
The FWC has warned employers against giving "generic and blanket HR answers" when they provide their "reasonable business grounds" for knocking back flexibility requests, before ultimately rejecting a bid from a worker with challenging caring responsibilities to continue working entirely from home.
An employer did not discriminate against a lawyer when it twice declined to roll over short, fixed-term contracts that would have entitled her to paid maternity leave, an appeal panel has found.
Employment rights legal centre JobWatch says a client survey suggests most employers are failing to take internal complaints of workplace sexual harassment and discrimination seriously or to adequately protect employees, prompting recommendations to expand positive duty and vicarious liability provisions, and actively monitor compliance.
Queensland Council of Unions secretary Jacqueline King says Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke is "receptive" to calls for new gender equity laws replicating the State's legislation that has "made more of a difference" in its first year than in the previous two decades under the Queensland IRC's equal remuneration principle.
IR advisor Employsure has failed to stop Workplace Express from accessing part of a manager's adverse action claim, after contending that it contained confidential information about a restructure that could give competitors an advantage.
The ANMF has told the Senate work and care inquiry that ordinary full-time hours should be reduced from 38 hours to 32 to enable workers to achieve a better balance of work and caring responsibilities.
An Employsure manager is suing the IR advisory service for deciding against appointing her to a more senior role that she sought while on parental leave, accusing it of discriminating against her because of her pregnancy and impending family responsibilities.
