The Federal Government's move to harmonise OHS laws system suffered a major setback last night, with Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard officially laying aside her Safe Work Australia bill after the non-Government senators again insisted on the amendments the Government had already rejected.
Employers looking to outsource will, under Labor's Fair Work Bill, face the same uncertainty they did before Work Choices introduced the "sole or dominant reason" test, while the new legislation's broader discrimination regime will also increase prospective employees' rights, according to Blake Dawson senior associate Michael Tamvakologos.
WA teachers vote up 15%-plus pay deal; Safe Work Bill impasse continues; Parliament passes temporary worker bill; News Ltd printers voting on new agreement; Big drop in days lost to industrial disputes; CPSU secret ballot at Telstra closes; AFPC calls for submissions on final pay review; and Lee departs Workforce Victoria
The Federal Government's Fair Work Bill 2008 has this evening passed through the House of Representatives, on what was meant to have been the final sitting day of the year.
A former employee with a global HR consultancy has relied on comments made by a manager years earlier in pre-employment negotiations to win her claim for a $100,000-plus severance payout.
The AMWU has called on the Federal Government to impose a compulsory levy on employers to fund measures designed to guarantee 100% of workers' entitlements.
New good faith bargaining rules in the Fair Work Bill might provide a useful tool for employers to hold unions to account for the tactics they adopt in bargaining negotiations, Arnold Bloch Leibler partner Henry Skene says.
An IR advisor to former Prime Minister John Howard when Work Choices was introduced has labelled as "a disgrace" the response to Labor's Fair Work Bill by "certain employer organisations", while the former minister responsible for introducing the Howard Government's IR laws, Kevin Andrews, has criticised the "alacrity" with which employer groups have welcomed the "return of the old industrial relations club".
Productivity is down, labour costs are up marginally, the wages share of the economy has hit a 44-year low and the profit share has reached the highest level in the 49 years records have been kept, according to national accounts data released by the ABS today.
Noel Washington may no longer be facing jail, but thousands of building workers and their supporters today went ahead with the rallies around the country that were planned to coincide with the start of his trial.
