The evidence is in and the answer is clear. We must try and eliminate COVID-19 for the health and economic benefit of Australians of all ages.
Broken contract: ‘Egg Girl’ Amber Holt’s employer might find she has breached her obligations as an employee to protect the company’s image.
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Courts and contracts have given employers greater power to control the private or out-of-hours conduct of employees.
Supporters outside the offices of the Fair Work Commission in Melbourne on Friday, June 1, 2018 after it lifted the minimum wage by 3.5%
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Granting low-wage workers a “living wage” instead of a minimum wage is far from costless, and there are much better ways of helping people genuinely in need.
Was the Coalition too quick to take up Gerard Henderson’s IR club theme?
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
The Abbott government will soon ask the Productivity Commission to review the Fair Work system. In parallel with that review, we need a more sophisticated debate about our workplace relations framework…
The Commission of Audit’s minimum wage recommendation shows no understanding of issues facing the low paid.
'No understanding anytime': artist: Richard Tipping, from the Signed Signs series, Brisbane Powerhouse, 2001.
There was nothing in the Commission of Audit’s terms of reference inviting it to make recommendations on the minimum wage. The Commission was asked to produce a report on “government expenditure”. Yet…
Penalties for unlawful picketing will increase under a planned new ABCC.
David Crosling/AAP
The Abbott Government is this year preparing to revive the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) after it was renamed and stripped of many of its powers by the Gillard Government in 2012…
The coalition’s industrial relations policy is likely to disappoint small business.
AAP
Tony Abbott’s industrial relations strategy has received a less than rapturous response from both business and trade unions. The Business Council of Australia and the Australian Industry Group have criticised…
Opposition leader Tony Abbott at the launch of his politically cautious industrial relations policy today in Sydney.
AAP/Paul Miller
Unions’ power would be curbed under an Abbott government, with more restrictions put on their right of entry to workplaces and a time limit imposed for concluding “greenfield agreements” for new projects…
Bill Shorten will announce appointments to the Fair Work Commission in an attempt to provide balance as well as legal expertise.
AAP/Dave Hunt
Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten is bringing private sector legal firepower into the Fair Work Commission, including appointing the President of the Law Council of Australia, Joe Catanzariti as…
Employment Minister Bill Shorten says the Fair Work Act review shows the regime doesn’t impact negatively on productivity.
Perceptions of widespread union militancy in Australia’s industrial relations environment is generally unfounded, according to the University of Melbourne’s Professor of Management, Peter Gahan. Recommendations…
Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten has ruled out making any sweeping changes to the Fair Work Act.
AAP
The post implementation review of the Fair Work Act, 2009, was released this afternoon. A three member panel – Professor Ron McCallum, Dr John Edwards and Michael Moore – produced the three hundred–odd…
Coming to grips with the causes of dropping productivity isn’t helped by misleading reporting.
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“A third of workers waste quarter of their day” - Herald Sun. “Wasted work time costs billions a year” - The Age. Judging from these headlines, you would think Australian workers are chronic time wasters…
Industrial relations in Australia is captive to antagonistic histories.
“The object of [the Fair Work] Act is to provide a balanced framework for cooperative and productive workplace relations that promotes national economic prosperity and social inclusion for all Australians…
The pressure continues to intensify on embattled MP Craig Thomson.
AAP/Lukas Coch
Fair Work Australia (FWA) has recommended civil court action be taken against MP and former Health Services Union (HSU) national secretary Craig Thomson. The regulator says the union committed 105 breaches…
Former Health Services Union head Craig Thomson represents a vital vote for the Gillard government.
AAP Image/Penny Bradfield
The ACTU yesterday voted to suspend the Health Servives Union from affiliation until they can prove that issues of governance have been dealt with appropriately. Although it does seem to have been a slow…
Apprenticeships are an integral part of our workforce.
AAP
The ACTU is escalating a push through its case with Fair Work Australia to improve the wages of apprentices, many of whom are paid below the poverty line. There is a case for this and it is long overdue…
Strong past productivity performance is not the best indicator of current performance.
AAP
As the Commissioners of the Fair Work Act Review work their way through the mountain of submissions, one of the most critical aspects they will be called on to consider is the relationship between labour…
Interns should be more than just coffe-gophers … shouldn’t they?
flickr/happydog
Last week Reuters reported a former intern at Harper’s Bazaar is suing the magazine’s publisher, Hearst Corporation, saying her internship violated US labour laws because it was unpaid. The intern, who…
Australian Service Union branch secretary Sally McManus is showered in streamers after Fair Work Australia awarded community workers a landmark pay rise.
AAP
As long as people see the gender wage gap as normal, society has a problem. This view is illustrated in a comment by Jeremy Sammut on a Centre for Independent Studies email newsletter: “Forget that the…
Professor of Gender, Work and Employment Relations, ARC Future Fellow, Business School, co-Director Women, Work and Leadership Research Group, University of Sydney