Two unions are poised to lodge legal challenges to penalty rate cuts as early as tomorrow after the Fair Work Commission issued determinations on transitional arrangements in the retail and hospitality sectors.
The WA Industrial Relations Commission has increased the state minimum wage by 2.3%, noting that the economy is still in a "trough" after the end of the mining and construction boom in recent years.
The Fair Work Commission today conceded that inflated concerns about the impact of minimum wage increases on employment may have led to it being "overly cautious" in past rulings.
The Fair Work Commission has this morning granted award-reliant workers a 3.3% increase, lifting the national minimum wage by $22.20 a week or 59 cents an hour in this year's annual wage review ruling.
The maverick Federal Nationals MP George Christensen says he will introduce his own private members' bill to protect Sunday penalty rates from being cut.
Shadow IR Minister Brendan O'Connor has questioned whether industry awards are operating as a "decent safety net" any more, signalling that Labor is looking at ways to change the Fair Work Act to ensure negotiations over workers' wages and conditions are conducted "on a level playing field".
The SDA will withdraw its claim for extra pay rises of 10% for retail and fast food workers in this year's minimum wage review, the Fair Work Commission heard today.
The AHA, AAA and Pharmacy Guild have withdrawn their proposals to change the term "penalty rates" to "additional remuneration", ahead of a further hearing tomorrow on the weekend and public holidays penalty rates case.
The Federal Government has sidestepped an "irregular" question from the Fair Work Commission about whether it planned to change the Fair Work Act to enable the tribunal to make take-home pay orders in cases like the landmark penalty rates review.
