IR Minister Tony Burke says the Albanese Government is "not there yet" in talks with key crossbenchers ahead of this week's Senate debate on its Closing Loopholes No 2 legislation, while consultations on including a "right to disconnect" are tackling the role of fines.
Two years after its approval without the AWU's knowledge, a deal covering just three workers who had no stake in it has been quashed after new evidence from the union, but a FWC full bench has stopped short of finding it a sham akin to that of related entity Workforce Logistics.
Stevedores at DP World will receive pay increases of 23.5% over about four years, plus an upfront bonus, after the FWC assisted the company and the MUA to reach an in-principle enterprise deal to end months of disruption at four container terminals across the country.
The FWC has rejected a proposed enterprise agreement, after finding employees did not genuinely agree to it because their employer only gave them a day's notice of a vote, while the tribunal has also lamented the company's "perplexing and unhelpful" approach to providing compliant documentation.
Key crossbench senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie have used a Senate inquiry report today to outline their concerns about the Closing Loopholes legislation, including changes to casual employment, the expansion of union entry rights and setting minimum standards in the gig economy and road transport.
IR Minister Tony Burke is consulting with the Greens and key crossbench senators on including a "right to disconnect" in the Closing Loopholes No 2 legislation once Federal Parliament resumes next week.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke intends to amend the Closing Loopholes No 2 legislation so that "employee-like" workers in the gig economy and in road transport cannot "double-dip" in the federal and state IR systems.
DEWR has sought to allay concerns raised by senators about public "confusion" and "misunderstanding" of proposed changes to the definition of casual employment, telling an inquiry that nothing in the legislation "requires" workers to alter their status.
A senior FWC member has delved into arbitral history to offer his own definition of a 'seven day shiftworker' after expressing frustration that there is no "simple" or "unambiguous" description of the term in the many awards it is employed.
