The insights gained from the rapid shift to working from home during COVID-19 could lead to the adoption of a "genuine consultation" requirement under the Fair Work Act's "right to request" flexibility that might start "a conversation aimed at reaching a mutually suitable arrangement", according to a new paper by two leading IR academics.
Most negotiations between employers and employees on working from home arrangements will remain outside the formal IR system, according to a new report by the Productivity Commission.
The UK Labour party has promised to replace the country's three existing employment classifications with a single category of "worker" for all but the "genuinely self-employed" if it takes power at the 2024 election.
The ACTU's triennial Congress is set to endorse a suite of policies on working from home that extend to the "right to disconnect" from work, payment for all time worked and workers having choice and control over hours.
Retail employers and their part-time employees will be able to agree to extra hours by text message or email, under changes to the industry award that followed a request from the IR minister.
The FWC has expressed provisional views ahead of a hearing on Thursday that casual definitions and conversion clauses in some awards clash with the Fair Work Act and National Employment Standards, and that it would be inappropriate to itemise loadings.
As Telstra continues to bring call centre jobs back onshore and responds to changing needs during the pandemic, it says a new flexible work policy will support "location agnostic" and "hybrid" practices that open up flexibility options for all employees.
Requests by two HR consultancies to extend coronavirus-driven award variations providing more flexibility to work from home have prompted the FWC to expand the window for submissions on its provisional view that the measures should be wound up.
A tribunal has ordered the ACT Government to re-credit more than 200 hours of personal leave to a worker who accused it of discriminating against her on the basis of her parenting responsibilities by refusing to let her start work before 7.30am.