On the eve of Work Choices eliminating all unfair dismissal protection for the bulk of Australian workers and making it easy for even larger firms to sack at will, the Federal Opposition has released a broad outline of its plan to remodel dismissal laws, while the Prime Minister has warned disruptive employees that "they may not find it as easy to remain".
Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews has given the Award Review Taskforce a one-month extension on its end-of-March deadline for submitting reports on the rationalisation of awards and wage classification structures.
The strict Work Choices rules on signing and lodging agreements has left employers involved in union bargaining exposed to significant fines, according to the AiG.
A Freehills partner has warned a Sydney conference today that employers in industries with low entry barriers should strongly consider using the opportunities for restructuring their employment arrangements available under Work Choices, or have their competitors beat them to it.
Despite the release of the Work Choices regulations, significant questions remain unanswered on how private dispute resolution will work under the new IR regime, according to an academic.
Striptease Artists Australia has succeeded in its long-running campaign for a national industry award that bans shift fees being imposed on dancers and prevents their tips being offset against wages.
Low-paid workers in the UK will later this year get a 6% pay rise, well above inflation and average weekly earnings growth, after the Blair Government accepted a recommendation by the pay-setting body on which the Fair Pay Commission was modelled. And in an echo of one of the Work Choices debates, the UK body has refused to accept that employers should be able to count non-cash benefits as part of the minimum wage.
Six months grace from prosecutions for record-keeping breaches, says ACCI; No doctor required for three month's sick leave under Work Choices: AMA; Preview version of renumbered Workplace Relations Act now available; AIRC lacks jurisdiction to hear dispute over employee entitlements' bond; $150,000 worth of promised shares awarded to axed Adsteam executive; and Failure to store employee records on secure computer catches Government agency: Privacy Commission.
Alcoa today lost a bid for orders against a 48-hour bargaining strike at its Portland Aluminium smelter in Victoria after the AIRC accepted assurances from the ETU and the AMWU that they would not try to involve contractors in the stoppage.
A labour hire employee who refused to move from a long-term placement to another host employer has lost an unfair dismissal claim, but the NSW IRC hasn't ruled out the possibility that such an employee could have an implied term in their employment contract giving them a right to stay with the host.
