The Albanese Government is not attracted to "scorched earth" IR policies to address Australia's productivity challenges, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said today, ahead of tomorrow's tabling of the final report of the Productivity Commission's productivity inquiry.
Fortescue charged over harassment documents; Wesfarmers' near-$5M bill for underpayments; Review into PC s-xual harassment claims; Work and care inquiry deadline extended.
The Productivity Commission has warned against "shoehorning" gig economy platform work into other employment categories, arguing it could jeopardise their benefits for consumers and workers.
The Productivity Commission says the workplace tribunal should have a "fast-track process" for early involvement in industrial disputes on the docks, while waterfront employers should have more options for taking their own protected action beyond lockouts.
The MUA claims the competition regulator has failed to show a causal link between waterfront productivity and the content of enterprise agreements negotiated between the union and major stevedores.
The NFF says the Federal Government should use its existing powers to routinely and rapidly refer all potential waterfront disputes to arbitration so that importers and exporters are no longer "held to ransom as a bargaining chip" between maritime workers and infrastructure owners.
A Productivity Commission inquiry will explore whether to permit "informal carers" to take extended unpaid leave to support elderly friends and relatives, while submissions are due in April on a study of what might happen if priority is given to direct employment of aged care workers.
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The National Farmers' Federation has called on the Federal Government to refer maritime industrial disputes straight to the FWC for arbitration, as one of several moves to improve international freight supply chains.
