In a decision sure to make waves in Canberra, the AIRC has found the looming legislative removal of unfair dismissal rights and severance pay for small business employees is a reduction in conditions to be weighed up when considering whether a proposed agreement disadvantages employees.
Despite the Federal Government pressuring them to wait until its Cole bill is law, a group of Victorian builders has this morning reached an in-principle agreement with the CFMEU on a new three-year deal that the union will now seek to flow-on throughout the industry.
While the "permanent casual" remains a feature of the Australian workforce, the latest HILDA survey shows that for a large percentage of casual employees their status is transitional, with 42.2% moving on to non-casual employment within two years.
No deal yet on Melbourne motorway; FAAA says Australian Airlines refusing to bargain; Government launches research into health workforce productivity; Australia's advantages might outweigh the appeal of offshoring, says report; and IT group proposes 10am-3pm core work hours to reduce employees stress.
In an unusual unfair contract case, an Australian teacher claims she was sacked by the Seventh-Day Adventist Church after she alleged her daughter had been sexually abused by other church employees whilst working in Papua New Guinea.
The Democrats have made it clear that they won't countenance support for the Government's legislation giving small businesses a blanket exemption from severance pay obligations. However, they are ready before they lose the Senate balance of power in July to widen the current grounds for excusing small employers from paying.
The Howard Government has given ground on its right of entry legislation, conceding it needs softening and that the proposal to limit unions to one visit to each employer every six months is too restrictive, but Government senators have savaged the Bill's poor drafting and say further amendments are needed.
Paid maternity leave in the UK will increase to nine months by 2007 and to 12 months within five years, under a proposal by the Blair Government, which is expected to go electors in May.
A Government-controlled parliamentary committee has today recommended further award simplification, removing restrictions on casual and part-time work from awards and agreements and axing FBT on childcare to improve participation in the workforce as the population ages.