This Month
- Analysis
- Analysis
NZ goes back to the ’70s with new industrial relations club
Overhauled labour laws aim to provide industry-wide coverage for poorly paid workers, but there is scope for any number of sectors to be captured in future.
- Luke Malpass
Ardern supercharges union power in IR overhaul
New Zealand’s Labour government has announced a radical overhaul of labour laws that places centralised wage bargaining back at the heart of industrial relations law.
- Luke Malpass
Smash repairer AMA sues former CEO for $2.4m in expenses row
The lawsuit is the culmination of an increasingly acrimonious dispute between Australia’s biggest smash repair business and former CEO Andy Hopkins.
- Liam Walsh
April
Qantas wins last-minute order to delay defection
A Singapore court ruling means Nick Rohrlach will probably not start at Virgin’s loyalty business until after the period Qantas wanted him to spend on gardening leave.
- Lucas Baird
CFMEU cops near-record $1.2m fine
The construction union was penalised for threatening a crane company that fired an employee it thought was a union spy.
- Aaron Patrick
Judges, barristers accused of ‘alarming’, widespread sexual harassment
Judges in South Australia face compulsory annual sexual harassment training after a report detailed extraordinary examples of junior members of the profession bombarded with explicit sexual suggestions and unwanted groping.
- Updated
- Hannah Wootton
- Exclusive
- JobKeeper
Business push for ‘emergency’ IR flexibilities to stay in awards
Small business is calling for the government to maintain workplace flexibilities and a wage subsidy program that can be turned on for future emergencies.
- David Marin-Guzman
- Opinion
- Opinion
Unfinished IR business cannot be ignored
Despite the omnibus bill debacle, a strong platform has been established for simplifying the archaic workplace system if the politics can be set aside.
- Paul Zahra
Fate of Qantas’ outsourcing may rest with Virgin’s Jones
Paul Jones – the new digital and customer head at Virgin – will be called by Qantas’ lawyers to prove last year’s outsourcing push was legal.
- Lucas Baird
- Opinion
- The AFR View
May budget should launch fiscal reset
The recession, the job market shakeout and the budget hit have not been as deep or extended as first feared. The Treasurer should seize that opportunity to commit to budget repair.
- The AFR View
Fair Work chief adopts faster agreement approvals
The speedier deadline follows concerns from business groups over ‘unjustifiable delays’ in agreements.
- David Marin-Guzman
Cash sceptical of call to overhaul sacking laws for harassers
The Morrison government says the evidence is lacking to justify ruling out reinstatement for perpetrators of sexual harassment but business says it’s leading to ‘go away money’.
- David Marin-Guzman and Andrew Tillett
Sacking changes over sexual harassment ‘don’t go far enough’
The Morrison government’s moves to outlaw sexual harassment could be tripped up by workplace tribunals, which have sometimes reinstated harassers.
- David Marin-Guzman
Government shies away from major sex harassment fixes
The Morrison government has left major Respect@Work report recommendations for review, including broad powers to investigate workplaces rife with sexual harassment.
- Updated
- David Marin-Guzman
- Analysis
- Analysis
A turning point for workplace sexual harassment
The changes tell employers they have the unambiguous power and responsibility to protect staff from unwanted sexual advances and slurs.
- Aaron Patrick
Employers call for more power to fire sexual harassers
Employers have complained the Respect@Work report’s recommendations don’t go far enough to ensure the sacking of employees who commit harassment.
- David Marin-Guzman
Deliveroo cautions employment conditions would cut jobs ‘lifeline’
Deliveroo has warned it would be forced to reduce the size of its workforce if it had to engage its riders as employees, after operating as a major source of jobs during the pandemic.
- David Marin-Guzman
Minimum wage rise ‘major’ threat to small business: government
The Morrison government has warned the workplace tribunal that increasing labour costs during the recovery period could act as a major constraint on small business and jobs.
- David Marin-Guzman
March
CBA reaches workplace ‘milestone’ with non-union deal
The bank has pushed through union opposition to get up its new agreement covering 33,000 staff, saying it is now closer to ‘modern’ workplace conditions.
- David Marin-Guzman
Hemmes’ Merivale loses key fight against $100m-plus back pay bill
Justin Hemmes’ hospitality empire is facing ‘uncharted territory’ after losing a major part of its defence against a class action that claims it underpaid staff $129 million.
- David Marin-Guzman
