Workplace Relations Minister Senator Murray Watt will weigh into a gender undervaluation award review case to make it clear the wages of affected workers must not go backwards, after the ASU warned proposed changes to the community and disability sector award might leave some workers up to $700 a week worse off.
Pharmacists will receive a 14.1% pay boost after a much-anticipated ruling by a FWC expert panel that scrutinised gender undervaluation, while employees under four other awards covering health professionals, disability services and daycare will have to wait for increases of up to 35% as questions of funding and new classifications are further investigated.
The ASU has welcomed an Albanese Government commitment "to support pay increases and better career pathways" for community and disability workers if re-elected, with Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt pledging funding for a workforce project to update the SCHADS Award.
A 9.2% increase to the national minimum wage and award wages would restore low-paid workers' buying power to pre-pandemic trends without significantly affecting inflation, according to research finding no consistent link between minimum wage rises and inflation since 1990.
The ACTU is calling for a 4.5% increase to the minimum wage, well above the current inflation rate of 2.4%, to lift the annual full-time rate by $2,143 to $49,770, while Victoria's Allan Government is making the same pitch as its federal Labor counterpart, calling for a real increase in the minimum wage.
Peak employer body ACCI has warned against the FWC handing down an "above inflation" rise in its upcoming Annual Wage Review, while at the same time arguing for "no more than 2.5%" when headline annual inflation currently stands at 2.4%.
The Ai Group has hinted at a potential "consensus" in a FWC-initiated case with economy-wide implications to consider inserting WFH provisions in the clerks award, while expressing concern that it would be "unfair" to require submissions ahead of results of a survey on the issue, with the tribunal now persuaded to ditch the deadline and hold a conference.
Higher education awards covering academic and other staff have been varied to tighten restrictions around the sector's reliance on fixed-term contracts.
The 25% exemption rate the Ai Group has proposed for an estimated one million workers covered by the clerical award "does not adequately compensate" for the loss of penalty rates and overtime, according to ASU national secretary Emeline Gaske.
The Australian Industry Group has expressed dismay at the "skewed" drafting of a FWC survey aiming to gather information on how the clerical award currently impedes or enables working from home.
