An innovative “unified agreement” replacing 16 separate awards and collective agreements plus a number of individual contracts covering around 900 employees at Vision Australia was easier to negotiate under Work Choices’ approval process, according to the organisation’s national HR manager, John Gow.
Expand ABCC jurisdiction to tackle mafia, says MBA; IC Act starts today; WA IRC to consider what is a constitutional corporation; Vale Trevor Veenendaal; Victorian and NSW unions to run anti-Work Choices concerts next month; Bench reserves on Tristar challenge to inquiry; and No replacement yet for WA Employment Protection Minister.
Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey has rejected criticism of poor wage outcomes for women on AWAs, and refused to guarantee any individuals would not be worse off as a result of the Work Choices changes.
The Commonwealth Bank has lost its Federal Court appeal against a ruling that it discriminated against employees moved to its CommSec subsidiary in breach of the pre-reform Workplace Relations Act, but a record penalty of $750,000 against it is likely to be cut to $450,000.
An ABS survey taken in May last year - before the full impact of Work Choices was felt - shows that registered individual deals such as AWAs have made little headway, covering just 3.1% of workers in the private sector and 2% in the public sector, while non-managers are earning 3.3% less under AWAs than they do under collective deals.
RailCorp New South Wales has been ordered not to take disciplinary action against an employee until his victimisation complaint to the Anti-Discrimination Board is decided.
Hockey to address National Press Club today; New way to make online submissions to Fair Pay Commission; No automatic liability for negligence by contractors, says High Court; and Casualisation of academic staff targeted by NTEU.
Prime Minister John Howard has used an address to the Menzies Research Centre this evening to paint the ascendant Labor Opposition as a captive of the union movement that would put pressure on interest rates by reinstating a centralised wage-setting system.
Shadow Small Business Minister Craig Emerson has told his party that there would be further consultation with small business before any announcement on unfair dismissal policy was made.
First the Victorian Workplace Rights Advocate found Heinemann Electric Pty Ltd was wrong to refuse to pay workers their ordinary time wages after they put on overtime bans during a bargaining dispute, now the OWS has launched legal action in the Federal Court to recover the employees' pay.
