The Department of Employment has told a Senate inquiry that almost two-thirds of large fast food, retail, hospitality and pharmacy deals pay less than the award for Sunday work.
New data shows the Fair Work Commission's "triage" process for assessing whether enterprise agreements pass the Better Off Overall Test is resulting in closer scrutiny of workplace deals.
A Senate inquiry has recommended passage of a bill that scraps mandatory four-yearly award review and has backed the FWC's proposal to backdate provisions allowing the tribunal to correct minor errors in bargaining notices.
Average pay rises in private sector agreements struck in last year's December quarter returned to the recent trend of about 3% a year, according to new Department of Employment data.
The number of enterprise agreements terminated by the FWC has accelerated dramatically in recent years, particularly for relatively small union-negotiated deals in the construction and manufacturing sectors, according to the Department of Employment.
Private sector enterprise agreements approved in the September quarter paid an average wage rise of 3.4% a year, after construction deals providing substantial annual increases helped to lifted bargained wage deals out of the doldrums, new Department of Employment data reveals.
A senior member of the Federal Court's IR panel has warned that litigation is inevitable if those who draft enterprise agreements use euphemisms to conceal the parties' differences on terms.
Responsibility for gender equity strategies should be partially devolved from centralised HR departments to line managers, and training to combat "unconscious bias" in selection processes should be mandated for supervisors and managers, according to a new report on barriers to women's career advancement in higher education.
Wage growth in private sector federal agreements approved by the FWC in the December quarter of last year dropped to a new 24-year low, according to the Department of Employment.
"Members only" collective agreements should be introduced and it should be left to employers to decide whether to provide the same wages and conditions to non-members, according to Sydney University's Ron McCallum.
