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.
Unprotected industrial action undermines collective negotiations because it is "directly contrary" to the Fair Work Act's bargaining regime, Deputy President Gerard Boyce has held in his reasons for finding the UWU's "unlawful" picketing of Woolworths distribution centres breached its good faith bargaining obligations.
Woolworths has today made an urgent application seeking that the FWC make orders to halt striking UWU members from "blocking access" to a Melbourne warehouse and three others in Victoria and NSW that has cost the business a claimed $50 million in sales.
The FWC has warned employers against giving "generic and blanket HR answers" when they provide their "reasonable business grounds" for knocking back flexibility requests, before ultimately rejecting a bid from a worker with challenging caring responsibilities to continue working entirely from home.
Boosted delegates' rights will make workplaces more cooperative, potentially increasing productivity and workers' openness to new technologies such as artificial intelligence, according to a report that also warns unions not to fall into a trap with their paid training leave win.
Productivity in the private sector has increased in the past three quarters on the back of a reduction in hours worked, while real labour costs have dropped for the past two quarters, according to ABS national accounts data released today.
Australia's labour productivity growth is close to the top of the league table for comparable advanced economies, trailing the leading US by a small margin over the past 15 years, according to a new FWC publication.
Businesses should consider running randomised trials to inform evidence-based policymaking in the workplace and improve productivity, Assistant employment minister Andrew Leigh has told a HR leadership conference in Sydney.
Container terminal operator DP World says it is facing continuing protected action by MUA members until at least November 13, as the cost of the parties' bargaining impasse mounts.
A pre-Christmas waterfront battle between the MUA and container terminal operator DP World kicks off today with a 48-hour strike in Fremantle, which started at 6am WA time, to be followed by a 44-hour stoppage in Melbourne, from noon on Sunday.
