The Fair Work Commission will engage an external "plain language expert" to redraft the Pharmacy Award before it is user-tested in a pilot as part of the tribunal's four-yearly review of modern awards.
"Members only" collective agreements should be introduced and it should be left to employers to decide whether to provide the same wages and conditions to non-members, according to Sydney University's Ron McCallum.
The Fair Work Commission has hit back at Productivity Commission criticism, with its President, Iain Ross, saying that the PC's IR inquiry findings appear to reflect a "misunderstanding of [the] Commission's statutory role and functions".
Lawyers have told the Productivity Commission that its proposals to end tenure for new FWC appointees and to subject members to performance reviews would undermine the umpire's independence, while raising concern about a suggestion that only non-lawyers should determine matters in the proposed minimum standards division.
The standard absorption clause will no longer form a part of modern awards, with a five-member full bench ruling that it has served its purpose as a transitional tool.
The FWC has blocked an attempt by maintenance workers servicing mining giant Anglo Coal's Queensland operations to nominate multiple bargaining agents.
The Heydon Royal Commission will examine whether CFMEU construction and general division NSW branch secretary Brian Parker received secret commissions or benefits from construction companies or subcontractors, counsel assisting told a hearing this morning.
At the National Reform Summit in Canberra today, the ACTU will urge the Turnbull Government to adopt measures to boost multifactor and capital productivity, arguing that labour productivity has been growing and "is not the problem".
The FWC has ordered an employer defending an unfair dismissal claim to produce a consultant's bullying report sought by an employee it sacked after he drew a stylised p-nis on a workplace incident report, while it has refused to effectively "mandate" that the employer be represented by its employer association's lawyer.
Early childhood service providers might face higher wages bills after the Fair Work Commission ruled that their administrative workers can be covered by the modern award for private sector clerks.
