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.
A vote today has confirmed that key minor crossbench senators have dropped their support for the looming cuts to penalty rates in retail and hospitality.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has this afternoon introduced legislation that outlaws payments of "corrupting benefits" to unions and imposes penalties on those who provide or receive such payments.
NSW owner-drivers and contractors have lauded the finalisation of new transport industry rates and conditions after the NSWIRC approved the updating and geographical expansion of 'contracts of carriage' that had not been reviewed in more than 30 years.
