The Morrison Government has eased the eligibility thresholds for businesses and employees to qualify for the JobKeeper wage subsidy program, largely due to the Victorian coronavirus outbreak that has shut down large parts of the State's economy.
The Victorian government will give major warehouses and distributions an extra 48 hours to comply with a lockdown requirement to reduce their staffing to two-thirds of their normal levels.
Melbourne employers and employees face fines of up to nearly $100,000 and $20,000 respectively for breaching requirements of the State's worker permit scheme due to commence with stage 4 restrictions imposed from 11.59pm tonight.
The Victorian government is poised to implement a system of written permits for essential workers, the production of which on request will be needed once a range of Melbourne businesses are required to close from midnight tomorrow.
The Victorian government has this afternoon unveiled "heartbreaking" closures and restrictions on workplaces requiring the stand down of another 250,000 of the State's workers.
US food delivery giant DoorDash will pay two weeks of earnings to its Australian-based riders and drivers if required to self-isolate, as part of a COVID-19 protections deal reached with the TWU.
Today's Federal Government economic and fiscal update forecasts record low wages growth of 1.25% in 2020-21 due to the recession induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has today identified precarious work as a substantial driver of the State's escalating coronavirus second wave, while the Melbourne-based head of the ABCC is under fire for leaving the virus hotspot to conduct a compulsory examination in Brisbane.
Surging coronavirus cases in Victoria have today prompted an FWC full bench to seek urgent submissions on a provisional view that it should now vary the aged care award to provide paid pandemic leave for employees, including casuals, who must self-isolate.
