The ASU says it will object to extending a coronavirus-driven variation to the clerks' award because it has been "superseded" by JobKeeper and Fair Work Act changes, dismissing the employer bid as an attack on the award system.
In a case of curious timing, the FWC has endorsed a council's mid-pandemic scrapping of an enduring work-from-home arrangement on the basis it fell outside the purview of a flexible work agreement clause.
The union movement needs to build a "workers' claim" that lays out expectations and protections around working from home, according to ACTU secretary Sally McManus.
The IR system will need to change to deal with challenges arising from the COVID-19 "new normal" of working from home, according to a briefing paper by the Centre for Future Work.
