The COVID-19 pandemic has spawned five distinct work-from-home models, according to the authors of a FWC-commissioned study that found formal policies and relatively fixed hours are key to a successful WFH strategy.
The more than one million retail workers need more stable rosters, better pay and greater job security, along with flexible and affordable childcare, to enable them to meet their caring responsibilities, according to a new university study commissioned by the SDA.
Australia had less need than other countries to turn to legislation to provide short-term workplace flexibility in response to COVID-19 because of "swift" and "bold" yet self-restrained interventions by the FWC, according to new research.
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.
