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.
In what represents a significant development in corporate transparency, major accounting firms KPMG and PwC are disclosing bad workplace behaviours in reports taking inspiration from the World Economic Forum's "stakeholder capitalism" principles.
The ACCI is urging employers to ratchet up workplace COVID-19 vaccinations after the Morrison Government agreed to cover compensation claims for the most serious adverse reactions.
Unions and employers are embracing the use of rapid antigen testing as it ramps up in some industries, but questions remain around cost, access, administration and how it should fit with other measures to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission at work.
Qantas has today reported a massive coronavirus-driven net loss of about $1.7 billion for the 2020-21 financial year and has revealed it has now cut 9400 jobs - some 900 more than expected.
The CPSU has stepped up its criticism of the Morrison Government's public sector wages policy, saying it demands that workers sign up to "unknown" pay rises beyond the first year of new enterprise deals.
Resources giant BHP has told a WA parliamentary inquiry that it has terminated six employees for sexual assault and 48 for sexual harassment in its mining operations across the State over the past two years, while Rio Tinto has substantiated one sexual assault and 29 sexual harassment cases in its WA FIFO operations since the start of last year.
The Qantas Group will require all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 after receiving encouragement from a survey sent to 22,000 employees.
IR Minister and Attorney-General Michaelia Cash says a meeting this morning between government agencies, employers and unions will focus on how businesses can comply with COVID-19 work, health and safety obligations, "including without mandating the vaccine".
