Employers should pay close attention to their "extended workforce" before being forced to do so by increased regulation and public scrutiny, according to former Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James.
Unregistered retail union RAFFWU has today questioned Woolworths' decision to display a bargaining notice on physical noticeboards rather than its electronic or "point of sale" systems, during an FWC hearing into its bid to quash the approval of a new deal and clear the way for a $1 billion backpay claim.
The Federal Opposition will tell the FWC in a submission today that it no longer has confidence that the minimum wage framework can provide the increases needed by the lowest paid and that its "periodic assessments" to examine the minimum wage relative to the median wage have failed to deliver.
The ACTU will today unveil a claim for a 6% increase in the national minimum wage, which would translate to an extra $43 a week for Australia's lowest-paid workers.
The Victorian Labor government has flagged it will aim for modest annual pay rises of 2%, setting the scene for an arm-wrestle with public sector unions in bargaining over a series of major enterprise agreements.
Employers say the FWC's decision to forge ahead with model annualised wage clauses containing new record-keeping and reconciliation requirements – inserting them into some awards for the first time – will impose a "major red tape burden" while removing much of the benefit.
A university's decision to slash casual tutors' rates for online student support almost four years into an agreement has been endorsed by the FWC, despite the member observing that the deal's definition of tutorial harked back to his long-gone days at law school.
The CFMMEU says the Federal Court has made an "outrageous decision" in directing that $1m held in a trust fund as a result of a case brought by the union now be shared by all former employees of the liquidated labour hire company One Key Workforce Pty Ltd.
Growth in private sector rates of pay excluding bonuses has edged up to 2.3% a year, the fastest annual rise in four years, according to ABS data released today.
