Labor's proposed Fair Work Australia would be obliged to review minimum wage rates annually, in time for a July 1 rise, and Federal Treasury would be required to inform the new body about the likely economic effects of adjusting minimum rates, if a Rudd Government takes power at this year's election.
A Rudd Labor Government would bring back the worst features of centralised wage-fixing, Prime Minister John Howard warned the Queensland Media Club yesterday, while Labor frontbencher Craig Emerson proposed a raft of new measures, including payroll tax harmonisation, to lift Australia's flagging labour productivity growth.
The Bracks Government's use of its purchasing power to regulate labour standards of contract cleaning contractors has provided a model with "enormous potential" for expansion beyond services purchases into other areas of government procurement, including goods, according to a university study.
The ACTU has welcomed the ALP's IR policies announced by Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd today, particularly the proposed national system and unfair dismissal changes, but has expressed caution over the anti-strike rules.
A Labor Government would put in place a national IR system for the private sector, outlaw industrial action unless approved by a secret ballot, prohibit strike pay and re-introduce streamlined unfair dismissal laws, but with a 12-month probation period for businesses with 15 employees or fewer, Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd announced today.
The Defence Department and three of its male officers are facing a $100,000 compensation payment to a female former employee who was sexually assaulted, sexually harassed and victimised while working at a Navy depot in Cairns, following a Federal Magistrates Court ruling.
Employers are "snapping up workers" because they’ve never been a bigger bargain, according to consultants Access Economics' quarterly Business Outlook report for the next five years released today.
