Unions are asking the FWC to reject the Albanese Government's proposed phase-in schedule for Stage 3 work value pay rises of up to 13.5% in aged care, but employers say they are "commercially compelled" to support it to protect the sector's viability.
The FWC has transferred workers from BHP's in-house labour hire arm to direct employment with the new owners of a former BHP Coal mine, finding it "consistent" with the intent of the Fair Work Act's new "same-job, same-pay" protections.
A leading IR lawyer involved in a claim for an "exemption rate" in the Clerks Award says almost all employers of salaried staff, across industries, are breaching record-keeping requirements.
Employers have succeeded in varying an award clause a FWC full bench agrees could produce the "absurd" result of workers receiving five times the prescribed minimum rates.
The FWC has observed that an employer "is not a charity", in rejecting a claim from a former risk manager for an insolvent cryptocurrency trader that his award-covered role did not change despite successive $50,000 promotions over just 15 months.
A FWC full bench has made a provisional ruling in favour of ensuring the lowest pay classification in modern awards is used only for a short period of induction and training, making the second lowest rate the benchmark for continuing employment.
Unions and employers have flagged support for permitting award-covered employees to extend their annual leave by taking it at half pay, in what might be the sole area of consensus arising from the work and care tranche of the FWC's modern awards review, but they are yet to agree on "safeguards".
The Federal Government "strongly supports" the Stage 3 pay increases of up to 13.5% determined in the aged care work value case, but wants them phased-in, with half to be paid in January next year and the remainder in January 2026.
The FWC is seeking submissions on the latest phase of its research on gender-based occupational segregation, which has been released ahead of this year's annual wage review.
The Australian Human Resources Institute has told the FWC's modern awards review that it opposes any expansion of working from home rights and does not support narrowing the grounds for refusing flexible work requests to "unjustifiable hardship".
