Delaying access to superannuation by two years is likely to boost mature age workforce participation by two percentage points, says a new Productivity Commission report.
The Department of Employment has crunched the numbers on Australia's 122 modern awards, finding that just half provide for weekend penalty loadings, and 26 rule them out.
The Productivity Commission has denied it is "sceptical" of the need for unfair dismissal laws, and says the questions it will ask in its IR inquiry is whether they achieve their purpose and if there is a better way of doing things.
In a move that the government has dismissed as a political stunt, the ACTU has told Employment Minister Eric Abetz he should suspend his IR legislative agenda for at least a year to enable the Heydon trade union inquiry and the Productivity Commission Fair Work Act review to run their course.
The Productivity Commission in a new report has repeated its call for governments to adopt Victorian-style procurement guidelines to regulate substandard IR conduct in the construction industry, but has warned they might need to be modified to avoid a clash with the Fair Work Act.
Labour productivity in the private sector increased by 2% in the 12 months to July, just below the 30-year average of 2.2%, according to new data released today by the Productivity Commission.
