Employers say the National Employment Standards should cap the number of public holidays attracting penalty rates, boost "flexibility" for part-timers and those working from home, and keep the gig economy beyond coverage, while academics support removing the 12-months service qualifier for parental leave.
A House of Representatives committee has begun an inquiry into the "operation and adequacy" of the National Employment Standards, after a referral from Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth.
The Minns Labor Government's rush to pass contentious workers' compensation amendments has backfired, with the NSW upper house sending the legislation to a Greens-chaired inquiry that will get to decide its own reporting date.
Employers should be statutorily barred from using AI to make decisions affecting workers without "human oversight", while the FWC should review the National Employment Standards in response to "significant job redesign" by the technology, says a government inquiry into the digital transformation of workplaces.
A Senate inquiry is calling for guidance on what will qualify as a "reasonable excuse" for failing to comply with a Bill requiring employers with 500 or more workers to set new publicly-tracked gender equality targets that could determine eligibility for government contracts, while the Greens want to lower the threshold to 100 or more employees.
BHP and Rio Tinto are facing class actions accusing them of failing to protect women who worked for them and their contractors against sexual assault, discrimination and harassment over the past 20 years.
A Senate inquiry into AI has recommended updating workplace OHS frameworks to impose a positive duty on employers to minimise the risk of AI and mandating consultation, while a second parliamentary probe is considering whether the government should introduce protections from excessive workplace surveillance.