The Albanese Government's first major tranche of IR legislation beefs-up workers' rights to secure flexible working arrangements and empowers the FWC to arbitrate if conciliation of a refused request fails.
The Senate Work and Care inquiry's Labor and Greens majority is urging the Albanese Government to move swiftly to consider a right to disconnect, make flexibility requests an enforceable right and provide "roster justice" by ensuring workers with variable hours have predictability and certainty, in a 152-page interim report tabled this afternoon.
In a detailed examination of a major government department's early response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Court has rejected union claims that a hastily-conceived working from home policy breached existing arrangements and consultation requirements.
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.
A leading gender and IR expert says Australian policymakers should "pay attention" to a UK parliamentary inquiry's recommendation that the Johnson Government make menopause a protected characteristic under anti-discrimination laws and that employers implement more menopause-friendly policies.
The CBA is rolling out new contracts for staff on legacy individual flexibility arrangements and admitting ahead of a Federal Court hearing that the IFAs breached the Fair Work Act, but the FSU says it must get the process right for those wanting to revert to the agreement.
In a report warning of the "Uber-isation" of care, think tank Per Capita and a company using employees to provide disability services via an online platform are calling for a review of the implications of digital contracting in the sector.
Many workers would forgo a pay rise of up to 10% to secure more say in where and when they work, according to a study that says the Fair Work Act is failing to keep up with flexible practices, while other research says WFH employees save an average of $10,000 a year.
The FWC has observed that a Victorian worker's application to work full-time from home under flexible work arrangements was largely motivated by her opposition to COVID-19 vaccinations, in upholding her employer's refusal of her request.
