The use of rolling fixed-term contracts in the tertiary education sector is set to come under close scrutiny by a FWC full bench, while the tribunal has also moved ahead with its review of two arts sector awards in the wake of its inconclusive "targeted" examination of modern awards.
The Albanese Government has told a FWC full bench it supports its review of gender undervaluation of five female-dominated awards, but wants it to phase-in any resulting large increases to manage the effects on the public purse.
The FWC's bid to develop an award clause removing impediments to working from home looks to be a slow burn, with a hearing likely next June following a possible employee survey.
The FWC has moved a step closer to curtailing the lowest pay classification in awards from January 1, inviting comment on draft determinations that ensure it is used only for a short period of induction and training.
FWC president Adam Hatcher will convene a directions hearing next month into the Commission's own-initiative case to develop a "workable" award clause that removes impediments to working from home.
Employers and unions have confirmed the gulf that exists over 'right to disconnect' laws that come into force today, the former lamenting a lack of FWC guidance on "reasonable" contact and forecasting "conflict and disharmony", while the latter hailed the new provisions as "reclaiming the right to knock off".
A FWC panel has declined to offer its own methodology for assessing gender-based undervaluation of work after employers and unions involved in its consideration of five female-dominated awards failed to agree on engaging an independent expert to do the job.
The FWC will hear an employer application to vary the SCHADS award's sleepover allowance alongside a group of unions, but will exclude parts of the unions' draft determination that "go beyond the scope" of the original application.
A FWC full bench has chosen to include in an intractable bargaining workplace determination a delegates' rights provision that closely reflects the model award term, rather than the more extensive clause sought by the TWU.
The ACTU is recommending the FWC include more "practical detail" in its draft "right to disconnect" award term, to "spell out" what the Commission will consider when it determines whether or not a refusal is unreasonable and is also proposing a review in 12 months.
