Working women would receive a 14-week maternity payment at a cost of $352m a year under a private member's bill introduced this week by the leader of the Democrats, Senator Natasha Stott Despoja.
The Australian Hotels Association has withdrawn its application for a six-month freeze of the recent $18-a-week federal living wage increase for workers in four and five-star hotels.
A senior member of the federal IRC has called on participants in the IR process to play a part in the struggle to maintain the independence of public institutions, and criticised the increasing legalisation of the protected bargaining process.
A new call centre enterprise agreement provides about 150 workers with six weeks paid maternity leave and introduces a new classification structure, while extending the span of ordinary hours.
Amcor Limited faces a massive severance payment to 800 workers it transferred to a new employer, after a Federal Court judge said it had to make the payout despite it being apparently "contrary to commonsense and unfair".
The Government looks set to get its double dissolution trigger, with its bid to exempt small business from unfair dismissal laws again failing to win the Democrats' support. However, the minor party has come out in favour of legislation excluding casuals from dismissal laws for 12 months.
The IRC has given the ABC the choice of reinstating or paying a year’s wages to a Brisbane radio announcer who was sacked after a dispute over the corporation’s axing of a weekly segment with Queensland’s Premier.
More than 280 employees at health insurer HCF will receive a minimum pay rise of 8.6% over two years after the IRC certified two new non-union agreements today.
