Lifting wages will be a priority for the Albanese government to ease the cost of living. But the unions and the Greens are likely to push for more changes to tackle problems with the Fair Work system.
The bill put forth last week would bring welcome reforms to the Sex Discrimination Act and Fair Work Act. But it doesn’t go nearly far enough to protect women or prevent harassment at work.
Industrlial Relations Minbister Christian Porter.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Redundancies can can leave businesses ill-placed placed for revival. The real estate listings firm Domain is trying something more promising.
In the 1950s and 1960s, as more women joined the paid workforce, trade unions took up the case for equal pay.
Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University
Five decades ago Australia’s industrial relations system endorsed the concept of ‘equal pay for equal work’. So why does the gender pay gap endure?
Israel Folau is claiming that Rugby Australia unlawfully sacked him because of his religion. The organisation, however, contends the rugby star violated the terms of its code of conduct by discriminating against LGBTQ people.
Lukas Coch/AAP
What makes Folau’s case unique is that it sets up a clash between employment contract law and legal protections against discrimination on the basis of religion.
Hospitality union Hospo Voice stages a protest about wage theft in Melbourne’s iconic Degraves Street in October 2018. Five venues in the well-known cafe precinct were accused of underpaying workers.
United Voice/AAP
As many as half of all temporary migrant workers are being underpaid. After a two-year inquiry, the Migrant Workers’ Taskforce has provided a blueprint to do something about it.
As ACTU secretary, Sally McManus has proven effective at elevating the debate over workplace reform.
AAP/Alex Murray
Are penalty rates no longer relevant in the retail industry — and do they cost jobs? Recent research compared two neighbouring states where one raised rates to the other’s level to find the answer.
Protesters were back on the streets demanding penalty rates be left alone when the Coalition government asked the Productivity Commission to look at workplace relations last year.
AAP/Angus Livingston
Cutting penalty rates can be a vote-changer and the looming Fair Work Commission decision is tricky for both sides of politics. So what cards do the parties hold and how might they play them?
Professor of Gender, Work and Employment Relations, ARC Future Fellow, Business School, co-Director Women, Work and Leadership Research Group, University of Sydney