The power, gas and water industry has achieved annual labour productivity growth of 7.3% for the past 15 years, but still hasn't reached the OECD average, according to a new Productivity Commission report on the services sector.
An IRC full bench has thrown out an attempt by labour supplier Manpower to overturn the certification of a competitor's agreement that allegedly provided an unfair competitive advantage.
The federal Government's legislative bid to restore the 12-month exclusion of casuals from pursuing unfair dismissal cases looks doomed to fail in the Senate after Labor finalised its position, while Labor is also pushing to have the Government's small business unfair dismissal exemption bill sent to a Senate Committee.
The IRC has ruled that an employer wasn't justified in summarily dismissing a worker who persisted in calling a manager a "scab" after being warned for his conduct.
In a significant policy shift, Labor has signalled that it is planning to embrace a paid maternity leave model that is partly or wholly publicly-funded, while the Democrats have refined their pitch for 12 weeks of publicly-funded leave.
National air traffic control agency Airservices Australia has applied to the IRC to prevent several unions from disrupting services on Wednesday when they hold a stop work meeting to pressure the company into reviewing its pay deal.
OEA applies to remove union-only insurance clauses from agreements; Strippers' union close to clearing hurdles; Bench makes award at G&K O'Connor; Court stays damages claim by docks "mercenaries"; Ansett workers to be paid safety net entitlements within eight weeks; and more.
