ALP taskforce to seek out adverse effects of Work Choices; University of Ballarat to engage all employees on AWAs; Big employer groups in NSW to merge; Court fines ACI for FOA breach; Rise in skilled migration would lift hours worked, per capita income, says PC; SA has nation's smallest gender pay gap: Report; Queensland IRC rejects bias claim in equal pay case; PM expresses full confidence in Fair Pay Commission chair; and Workers spending two hours a week on non-work internet usage: Survey.
AIRC caves in on national wage case; NSW launches High Court challenge to Work Choices legislation; LHMU alarmed at "targeting" of hospitality award; Stewart raises concerns about reports of June renumbering of Workplace Relations Act; and 13% to 14% over three years for detention centre workers.
An employer who refused a new mother's request to return to work part-time unlawfully discriminated against her on the basis of her caring responsibilities, while it also transgressed when it banned her from speaking Arabic at work, an anti-discrimination tribunal has found.
The new higher safety net for workers whose deals are terminated under the 90-day rule will not be undermined by bare-bones agreements, DEWR and two academics maintain.
The NTEU has finalised collective agreements that it believes meet the Federal Government's new IR requirements with all universities whose 2006 additional funding was under threat - except Ballarat.
The Award Review Taskforce will early next year begin consultations with two key award-reliant industries - hospitality and retail - while it has already begun comparing wage classifications within specific industries to assist in deciding how to streamline them, according to its chair, Matthew O'Callaghan.
The AIRC is expected to decide this week on whether to defy the Federal Government by proceeding with the ACTU's national wage case application before the first decision of the new Fair Pay Commission.
A confidential Federal Treasury briefing on the Work Choices legislation shows the government lied about the legislation's likely effects - suppressing minimum wages and cutting short-term productivity, the ACTU said today.
