The NSW public sector granted more than 87% of women's requests for flexible work ahead of COVID-19, according to a large PSA member survey that says the pandemic has proved there is still room for improvement in the Berejiklian Government's "if not why not" policy.
The FWC is likely tomorrow to extend COVID-19 flexibilities in the clerical award until the end of March, after the ACTU agreed not to oppose the move, while unions and employers are continuing to negotiate on proposed "enduring" working from home provisions.
The ACTU will soon release an online workers' survey which will be used to identify elements of a union claim for "working from home rights", while helping to "frame" the public debate.
The FWC has used the further extension of COVID-19-related flexibilities in the clerks award to advance its campaign for enduring changes in working-from-home arrangements, calling on employers and unions to report back on possible variations to address the issue by early next month.
The Morrison Government has this morning introduced legislation to permit all parents to take up to 30 days of flexible unpaid parental leave until their child turns two and ensure 12 months of unpaid parental leave is available for families dealing with stillbirths, infant deaths and premature births.
The FWC has taken the initiative of releasing a draft award schedule addressing working-from-home arrangements, describing it as conversation-starter that recognises the need to adapt to COVID-19 realities.
The FWC has commended the AFAP and a special mission aviation employer for their approach in resolving a COVID-19 related dispute over the relocation of FIFO pilots on Border Force surveillance contracts.
The CFMMEU is preparing to grill employer bodies over their push for temporary COVID-19 variations to construction awards, which is set to be heard by an FWC full bench next week.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus will tonight use a "robo-call" to about 500,000 lower and middle-income households to explain the union movement's aims heading into the first of the Morrison Government's IR change discussions tomorrow.
The ASU says it will object to extending a coronavirus-driven variation to the clerks' award because it has been "superseded" by JobKeeper and Fair Work Act changes, dismissing the employer bid as an attack on the award system.
