The ACTU has resisted employer arguments to delay any rise in minimum pay, while it has accepted that the annual wage review timetable should be amended to enable the expert panel to consider national accounts data that is likely to identify the early economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has described his government's close consultation with the Opposition in drafting legislation to give effect to the JobKeeper coronavirus wage subsidy program that will be put to Parliament next week, while joining IR Minister Christian Porter in thanking unions for their cooperation in achieving "massive" temporary IR changes.
Lawyers are warning of potential traps if employers rush to change staffing arrangements before the Morrison Government finalises the "small print" on its JobKeeper coronavirus payment.
A full Federal Court has reproached a State employment tribunal member for his tardiness in determining appropriate penalties for an underpaying employer, suggesting that had no fine been imposed it might have been spared considering an unremarkable appeal involving "modest" sums.
The FWC has moved on its own initiative to introduce two weeks' unpaid "pandemic leave" for millions of award-covered workers, as the coronavirus crisis continues.
The ACTU has warned landlords and their representatives that unions will have "no tolerance" of forced evictions or pressure to draw down on retirement savings to pay rent.
The CFMMEU has lost its challenge to Federal Court orders requiring liquidators of a labour hire company to distribute $1m that was held in a trust fund for members of the union.
The FWC says the first application to vary an enterprise agreement in response to the coronavirus will be heard by a full bench to determine whether the "exceptional circumstance" provisions apply.
