Browsing: Policy and research (71 items)


Pandemic produced "peculiar" labour efficiency pattern: PC

The "labour productivity bubble" that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic can provide lessons for the future, and hybrid working can be more beneficial to productivity than wholly working from home or the workplace, according to a new Productivity Commission report.


Overwhelming majority of WFH requests approved: Study

Just 6% of clerical workers who seek WFH arrangements are knocked back by their employer, according to a new Swinburne University study commissioned by the FWC as part of the work from home test case.


Opposition retreats further on public service WFH position

The Coalition has reversed its stance on working from home in the federal public sector, while also shifting its position on slashing the APS workforce by 41,000, saying it will now be achieved over five years by natural attrition and hiring freezes, but the CPSU is warning this will still have a "devastating" effect on services.


FWC triennial report confirms agreements rebound

The number of workers covered by agreements has risen by 36.5% over the past three years, according to the latest triennial FWC general manager's report, while applications to deal with bargaining disputes rose 73.5% over the same period.


WFH crucial, say public sector union members

Nine in 10 women responding to a major CPSU survey say it is "very important" to be able to work from home and those who do are more likely to be satisfied with their work-life balance, while the ACTU says Coalition plans to force public servants back to the office if it wins government will hurt productivity and women's job opportunities.


Comment invited on WFH surveys

Interested parties have until 4pm next Monday to comment on draft employer and employee surveys commissioned as a key component of the FWC's bid to develop an award clause removing impediments to working from home.


Flexible work disputes moving in wrong direction: Expert

The FWC has become overly focussed on verifying workers' eligibility for flexible work requests by imposing onerous evidentiary requirements on them, which has limited the effectiveness of its new dispute power, a researcher has told the review panel in her response to its Secure Jobs, Better Pay draft report.


Lower the bar for WFH requests: ACTU

The ACTU has told a review of the SJBP Act that employers should be compelled to accommodate flexible work requests - such as working from home - unless it causes "unjustifiable hardship", while unions should not have to demonstrate majority employee support for contested single-interest bargaining authorisations.


Entry laws fail to contemplate WFH practices: Union leader

The Federal Government should consider "a right of access" to workplaces rather than a right of entry", to overcome the presumption that workers attend a physical location to perform their jobs that "ignore[s] the reality" of post-COVID-19 remote and digital work environments, a union leader suggests in a paper she will present at the Australian Labour Law Association conference next week in Geelong.


Legislate to extend flexible work rights to menopausal women: Report

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.


Page 1 of 8 | Total articles: 71