The Albanese Government has unveiled plans to immediately start work on enabling the Fair Work Commission to "proactively" help workers and businesses reach agreements that benefit them, particularly in the case of new and/or small and medium enterprises.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has today written to FWC President Iain Ross to advise of "impending" legislative changes that will prevent employers using terminations as a bargaining tactic.
The FWC has approved the termination of a small business's agreement after a tribunal member took the rare step of inviting workers to attend a teleconference where he spelled out the implications of reverting to the award.
An employer has appealed to the Federal Court to quash FWC orders requiring five individuals to appear before a Commission full bench next week to address concerns over their role in the approval of its current agreement.
The FWC has declined to hear the unfair sacking case of a vaccinated worker who passed up "at least" eight chances to confirm her inoculation status before her employer dismissed then reinstated her within 48 hours.
Isolation periods for COVID-19 are set to drop from seven days to five, while the pandemic leave disaster payment will be adjusted to reflect the change, after a National Cabinet meeting today.
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.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is seeking submissions on whether the Albanese Government should lower the Modern Slavery Act's $100 million reporting threshold and "more explicitly" spell out the "due diligence" steps companies should take to identify and address modern slavery, as part of a review of the legislation.
The AIPA says Qantas pilots have voted up, under threat of outsourcing, a newly-approved agreement variation that permits the flying kangaroo to apply existing fatigue rules for jets that fly six hours to its new generation Airbus A321XLRs that can be in the air for 11 hours.
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.