Most disability, home care, social and community services workers will from October next year be covered by a "vastly different" award providing pay rises of up to 27%, following yesterday's decision by a FWC expert panel considering gender undervaluation in highly-feminised sectors.
The FWC is set to make a same-job, same-pay order covering on-hire casual de-stuffers at an Aldi distribution centre that will see their 25% loading and any allowances paid on top of a "loaded" base rate paid to permanent workers.
A former FWO chief counsel-turned judge has taken an axe to the workplace regulator's belief in penalties as a general deterrent, expressing astonishment at its "staggering" pursuit of a $21,000 fine against an employer who quickly coughed up a $976 underpayment once a junior worker provided proof of their age.
As thousands of early childhood education and care workers prepare to walk out over feared pay cuts of between 4% and 15% when their taxpayer-funded retention scheme expires in November, the federal minister responsible is declining to provide certainty on the government's future intentions.
Growth in private sector rates of pay excluding bonuses has eased to 3.2% a year in trend terms, well below the 4.6% rise in consumer prices fuelled by the Middle East war, according to new ABS data.
A FWC expert panel is seeking urgent feedback on a draft contractual chain order to ensure road transport workers can from the start of next week recoup higher fuel costs caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
Legislation to respond to the transport fuel price crisis by enabling the FWC to fast-track road transport contractual chain order applications to lift rates for truck drivers has passed federal parliament late today.
FWC President Adam Hatcher has asked parties to the SCHADS award gender undervaluation case to consider participating in an ASU-proposed conference to resolve outstanding issues, saying that if it proceeds, he will give any consensus deal arising from it "significant weight".
