A Coalition Senate committee majority is recommending that parliament pass unamended the Federal Government bill that caps the redundancy entitlements of insolvent company employees at 16 weeks, while Labor and the Greens are opposing its passage.
The Abbott Government this morning introduced a Bill in the House of Representatives to cap redundancy payments under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme at a maximum of 16 weeks, describing the current benefits for employees of insolvent companies as "overly generous" and as creating a "moral hazard".
Requiring employees to sit in a "slow moving car park queue" and travel up to two hours a day to and from a new work location does not count as reasonable alternative employment, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in a decision to award six workers redundancy pay.
The Department of Employment has referred to the corporate watchdog allegations that a textile company entered into “contrived arrangements” to avoid paying redundancy entitlements to 60 workers.
News Corp Australia has offered a real pay cut for several thousand journalists employed at its Australian newspapers and is also seeking to reduce redundancy entitlements for new hires.
The Abbott Government will introduce a four-year pause on increases to the superannuation guarantee from July 1, as it seeks to "provide business with certainty" over SG rises.
Advocating a much more severe cut to the Coalition's paid parental leave scheme than Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced on Tuesday, the National Audit Commission has recommended the government cap payments at average weekly earnings and plough the resulting savings into child care assistance.
Patrick Stevedores has won the latest round in its continuing battles with the MUA over the automation of its Port Botany terminal, with the Fair Work Commission refusing to interfere with its decisions on workforce modelling, selection and redundancy, after rejecting union claims that it failed to consult.
The NSW IRC's ability to include redundancy provisions in public sector awards that are potentially in conflict with the state government's employment policies has been restored by the Court of Appeal.
