!['In its budget forecast the government is once again waving a magic wand' said economist Jim Stanford.](/web/20170512215821im_/http://www.theage.com.au/content/dam/images/g/w/2/l/k/a/image.related.landscape.460x307.gw1kn6.png/1494556211689.jpg)
Lack of wages growth challenges budget surplus prediction
The wages growth needed to deliver the federal budget prediction of a return to surplus is unlikely to materialise, employment law experts and economists have warned.
Anna Patty is Workplace Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald. She is a former Education Editor, State Political Reporter and Health Reporter. Her reports on inequity in schools funding led to the Gonski reforms and won her national awards. Her coverage of health exposed unnecessary patient deaths at Campbelltown Hospital and led to judicial and parliamentary inquiries. At The Times of London, she exposed flaws in international medical trials.
The wages growth needed to deliver the federal budget prediction of a return to surplus is unlikely to materialise, employment law experts and economists have warned.
Operators of the Little Vienna sandwich outlets in Sydney have been fined $87,040 for allegedly exploiting 11 Korean workers who were paid as little as $10 per hour and for using false pay records.
Drug testing, benefit cuts and a drastic shortage of jobs don't add up.
Computer software giant Microsoft will set new standards by extending paid maternity leave to 20 weeks and providing four weeks of paid leave for employees to care for a seriously ill family member.
Fines for shoddy bookkeeping are too low to deter businesses from underpaying workers and is helping them avoid prosecution.
A landmark agreement between online job-posting platform Airtasker and Unions NSW aims to increase minimum rates of pay and improve conditions for workers in the "gig economy".
The minimum wage for temporary work visa holders has not been revised to ensure it will keep up with inflation as part of federal government reforms to the visa system.
There was tellingly little outcry from business groups as the government announced its 457 visa changes.
Outback Steakhouse asked employees to sign up for training which turned out to be a three-year contract.
Joshua Park-Fing's parents are still waiting for answers to how he died on a Work for the Dole site.
Search pagination
Save articles for later.
Subscribe for unlimited access to news. Login to save articles.
Return to the homepage by clicking on the site logo.