A parliamentary inquiry has recommended the Albanese Government consider amending the Fair Work Act's right to request flexible work to ensure menopausal women can access it, while it also wants reproductive leave added to the NES and awards.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has appointed former Justice Department secretary Greg Wilson to examine the State's construction sector and help eradicate its "rotten culture", including by boosting its ability to weed out criminal activity and protect whistleblowers.
A freeze has been imposed on big employers applying to self-insure under Comcare while the Albanese Government reviews the compensation scheme's legislative framework, 17 years after a former Labor IR minister imposed what turned into a six-year moratorium on new participants.
Victoria's Parliament has begun an inquiry into workplace surveillance, to examine the extent to which employers collect, share, store, sell, disclose and dispose of surveillance data, the role of artificial intelligence , and whether there should be dedicated State workplace surveillance laws.
A Greens senator involved in an artificial intelligence inquiry says food delivery gig platforms provide "a real opportunity" for regulating work allocation algorithms, while employers' purpose in deploying the technology must be "interrogated".
A federal parliamentary inquiry will consider the implications of the "rapid uptake" of automated decision-making and machine learning on the workplace, after a request from Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke.
The FSU has told a Senate inquiry that employees suffering from perimenopause or menopausal symptoms should have a right to apply for flexible work, while Maurice Blackburn says an ability to work from home, access extra paid leave and take longer breaks greatly improves engagement.
A labour law expert has told a Senate inquiry he supports the Albanese Government's Bill to remove criminal sanctions from right to disconnect laws but he believes there should be a new requirement for all agreements to contain a disconnection rights term.
A Senate inquiry report tabled this afternoon says the legislation to raise paid parental leave to 26 weeks by 2026 should pass unamended, but the Greens want to see more progress toward a 52-week entitlement, while the Coalition is seeking an opt-out for small businesses from passing on parental leave payments.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke intends to amend the Closing Loopholes No 2 legislation so that "employee-like" workers in the gig economy and in road transport cannot "double-dip" in the federal and state IR systems.
