The Turnbull Government has quietly withdrawn parental leave legislation that sought remove employers from a mandatory role as "paymasters", prohibit "double dipping" and increase the maximum Government payment to 20 weeks.
A Senate inquiry's largely bipartisan support for the Turnbull Government's Protecting Vulnerable Workers Bill is a "striking indication" of how far the debate on the issue has advanced, according to Adelaide University Professor of Law, Andrew Stewart.
A Senate inquiry has recommended an employer who gives a union official a $20 bottle of wine for speaking at a conference be exempted from sanctions in the corrupting benefits legislation that is before the House of Representatives today.
Victoria's Andrews Government says it will legislate for a state-based labour hire licensing scheme that might not be limited to the three sectors recommended by last year's labour hire inquiry, while it will push Canberra to establish a national scheme.
Queensland's Palaszczuk Labor Government will introduce legislation this month to mandate the licensing of labour hire companies from next year, setting the pace for other Labor states such as Victoria and South Australia.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James says low penalties are creating a "perverse incentive" for a "dangerous minority" of employers to use inaccurate or incomplete records to conceal underpayments, forcing the watchdog to use novel, labour-intensive strategies to piece together employees' working hours.
In a rare decision on stand-down provisions under the Fair Work Act, the Federal Court has ruled that a contractor failed to comply with its obligation to pay its permanent part-time school cleaners normally during the 16 weeks of school holidays.
The FWC has issued an interim order to restrain an employer from disciplining an executive for alleged misconduct until the tribunal determines her anti-bullying application.
The timetable for having the Registered Organisations Commission up and running appears to have slipped, with a new target adopted for it to be in place by the end of June.
Unions say they are closely watching former Greens leader Bob Brown's High Court challenge to Tasmania's anti-protest laws, which has seen the federal and four state governments – three of them Labor – lining up to defend the legislation.
