The more than one million retail workers need more stable rosters, better pay and greater job security, along with flexible and affordable childcare, to enable them to meet their caring responsibilities, according to a new university study commissioned by the SDA.
The insights gained from the rapid shift to working from home during COVID-19 could lead to the adoption of a "genuine consultation" requirement under the Fair Work Act's "right to request" flexibility that might start "a conversation aimed at reaching a mutually suitable arrangement", according to a new paper by two leading IR academics.
Real unit labour costs have risen for the third quarter in a row, as coronavirus-driven reductions unwind, while private sector productivity has dropped for the second time in a year, according to ABS national accounts data released today.
A parliamentary inquiry into the future of the working week will probe questions such as whether the disruption caused by COVID-19 has created an opportunity and impetus for introducing a four-day week.
Employers once said to be facing up to $38 billion in casuals' backpay claims have welcomed today's High Court confirmation that contracts are decisive in determining employment types, while workers' representatives have come out swinging.
A traffic management company seeking a deal paying night workers shift loadings instead of higher overtime rates even if they don't take over from a preceding shift has lost its appeal bid after refusing to give an undertaking to overcome the deficiency.
The MUA says a landmark four-year agreement deal at the Port of Melbourne's "robo-terminal" will lead to conversion of 75% of casual jobs to permanent roles and introduce new protections against outsourcing and contracting out.
Retail employers and their part-time employees will be able to agree to extra hours by text message or email, under changes to the industry award that followed a request from the IR minister.
The FWO has begun prosecuting retailer Woolworths for allegedly substantially underpaying salaried managers who had been subject to annualised salaries.
