Assistant productivity minister Andrew Leigh says Australians have used about a quarter of the post-1980 productivity dividend to "work less", as he revisited a 1930 John Maynard Keynes prediction that people in 2030 "would inherit a world shaped by rising productivity and the promise of abundance".
Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth's plan to legislate "as soon as possible" to protect award-enshrined penalty rates has prompted the FWC to seek submissions on whether to shelve a major employer bid to insert a conditions buy-out clause in the retail award for workers on as little as $53,680 a year.
The Albanese Government has today appointed four new FWC members with union or employee-friendly backgrounds, while indicating its "rebalancing" of the tribunal hasn't yet been achieved.
Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt has weighed into a crucial full bench same-job, same-pay test case targeting BHP's in-house labour suppliers, ahead of a hearing that starts Monday, contradicting claims the carve-out for service contractors captures any work that is "more than the mere supply of labour".
Gig platforms must use "human representatives" rather than AI when assessing a regulated worker's response to threatened deactivation, under a much-anticipated new code published by the Albanese Government last week.
Former federal Workplace Relations Minister Chris Evans has been appointed Australia's first Anti-Slavery Commissioner, responsible for improving victim support and helping employers address supply-chain risks such as forced labour and debt bondage.
More than 90% of federal public sector employees have not been trained in the use of artificial intelligence despite 41% knowing that it is already being used in their department or agency, a survey has found.
Newly-installed CFMEU construction division administrator Mark Irving KC has told members that "militancy in accordance with the [Fair Work] Act" is not unlawful and that the union will not make political donations or take "positions" at ALP conferences while he is in charge.
