Federal Labor has confirmed it would protect independent contractors from union interference in letters of reassurance to the Independent Contractors Association and the HIA.
Employers should be careful what they wish for in increasingly individualised workplaces because they can be expensive and demanding for businesses, according to the chair of the UK Government's Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), Rita Donaghy.
The first report in a comprehensive five-year study of Australians at work was mired in political controversy on its release today, with both Treasurer Peter Costello and Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey claiming it was discredited because it was part-funded by unions.
Eureka flags on building sites may breach guidelines, says ABCC; WA sends 25,000 fairness test warning notices; and ACCI rejects worker advocacy centre plan.
The Victorian nurses union is to test Work Choices' pattern bargaining prohibition on secret ballots for strike action after about 1,500 members yesterday voted unanimously in favour of applying to the AIRC for work bans, including possible bed closures in public hospitals.
In the largest ever secret ballot for industrial action under Work Choices, CEPU members at Australia Post have voted for strike action, but the union is offering further talks with management and seeking changes to the ballot process.
A Federal Court full bench majority has found an AIRC member failed to accord procedural fairness to a worker when he took 12 months to decide that his "Bart Simpson defence" for his conduct at an out-of-hours work function lacked credibility and was evasive.
