In a bid to further reduce the gender pay gap, the Albanese Government has introduced a Bill that will require employers with 500 or more workers to set new gender equality targets, with their progress publicly available on the WGEA website and compliance required to be eligible for Government contracts.
Early case law in the new unfair termination jurisdiction for transport workers will determine the interpretation of the $175,000 income limit for applicants, according to FWC president Adam Hatcher, who confirmed the Commission had been consulted "in advance" of it being set and pointed out potential pitfalls.
The public outcry about multi-employer bargaining during the passage of the Secure Jobs legislation was "massively overstated" in the light of the limited number of cases that have since emerged, but recent reforms might have revived single-enterprise bargaining, according to FWC President Adam Hatcher.
The panel reviewing the Albanese Government's Secure Jobs reforms is seeking submissions by November 29 on whether they're operating effectively, or if further amendments are needed to rectify any "unintended consequences".
A FWC full bench will next month hear an Uber driver's unfair contract case, in the first test of the new provisions, a senior tribunal member told the NSW IR Society's Newcastle branch last week.
FWC President Adam Hatcher has followed up his recent promise of "genuine engagement" with road transport employers sweating on the TWU's minimum-standards test cases for gig workers and "last-mile" deliveries by asking the Road Transport Advisory Group for more details on consultation timeframes, who it might include in subcommittees and how it "proposes to conduct itself more generally".
FWC President Adam Hatcher has moved to reassure transport industry employers that the TWU's minimum-standards test cases for gig workers and "last-mile" deliveries will not be hijacked by an advisory group set up by Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt, promising "genuine engagement" and emphasising that the Commission retains control of the "deliberative processes".
A full Federal Court has found Qube Ports lacked standing to retrospectively vary expired agreements, clearing the way for the CFMEU's maritime division to pursue the stevedoring giant for millions in allegedly wrongly-deducted "gap" payments from up to 1000 wharfies' remuneration.
The Albanese Government's 10-day paid family and domestic violence leave entitlement is "appropriate and sufficient" and the scheme is operating as intended, but poor awareness and evidentiary requirements are preventing its full utilisation, according to the report of an independent review, tabled in federal parliament today.
The TWU has filed the last of its promised applications aimed at overhauling standards in the road transport industry, asking the FWC to make a contractual chain order imposing 30-day payment deadlines and compulsory rate reviews, while prohibiting unfair "set-off" terms.