Labor won't rely on achieving consensus to proceed with IR change, particularly on bargaining, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has told the National Press Club, while IR Minister Tony Burke says the ACTU-COSBOA deal opens up opportunities for small businesses that are otherwise "forever locked out" of agreements.
An Employsure manager is suing the IR advisory service for deciding against appointing her to a more senior role that she sought while on parental leave, accusing it of discriminating against her because of her pregnancy and impending family responsibilities.
Ahead of this week's jobs summit, unions are calling on the Albanese Government to take further action to close the 14.1% gender gap, by extending the reach of gender pay reporting, imposing "meaningful" targets and using federal purchasing power.
In a breakthrough for the ACTU ahead of this week's Jobs and Skills Summit, the Council of Small Business has agreed to support multi-employer agreements, while the two will also work together to achieve "new options" for workplace flexibility.
Unions and the Business Council have revived their plan for a more streamlined agreement approval process, with ACTU secretary Sally McManus suggesting the result could be a "really simple" system that might be better than that envisaged when the Hawke-Keating Government devised the bargaining regime in the early 1990s, while IR Minister Tony Burke said today he has shifted from his "hardline" opposition to changing the BOOT.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is seeking submissions on whether the Albanese Government should lower the Modern Slavery Act's $100 million reporting threshold and "more explicitly" spell out the "due diligence" steps companies should take to identify and address modern slavery, as part of a review of the legislation.
The Albanese Government's consultations with gig companies will consider issues including the design of a process in the FWC to deliver fair minimum standards for "employee-like" workers and setting of those standards.
The AIPA says Qantas pilots have voted up, under threat of outsourcing, a newly-approved agreement variation that permits the flying kangaroo to apply existing fatigue rules for jets that fly six hours to its new generation Airbus A321XLRs that can be in the air for 11 hours.
Burke to start talks on gig “cancer” remedy today; Minister “interested” in ACTU industry bargaining suggestions; and Summit agenda’s key IR items feature on first morning.
A leading gender and IR expert says Australian policymakers should "pay attention" to a UK parliamentary inquiry's recommendation that the Johnson Government make menopause a protected characteristic under anti-discrimination laws and that employers implement more menopause-friendly policies.
