EMPLOYEE RIGHTS – AUSTRALIA

ACTU’s new IR marching orders

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 2-Oct-24

ACTU secretary Sally McManus has revealed the union movement’s priorities if the federal government is re-elected for a second term. Amongst other things, unions will target junior pay rates for people who are 18-20 years of age and work in sectors such as retail, fast-food and pharmacy. The Fair Work Commission will hear the shop assistant union’s application to abolish junior pay rates next year, and McManus says the ACTU will lobby the government to legislate on the issue if the FWC rejects it. She says the loading rate for casual workers also needs to be reviewed, while the minimum standards for gig-economy workers should be extended to freelancers.

CORPORATES
ACTU

Business split over right to disconnect law

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Original article by Matt Bell, David Ross
The Australian – Page: 17 : 27-Aug-24

Unions have welcomed the federal government’s ‘right to disconnect’ reforms, describing them as a "cost-of-living win" for workers. However, shadow finance minister Jane Hume says the right to disconnect laws are "completely unworkable"; she contends that employers have been discussing this issue with their staff for many years, so legislation is not necessary. NIB Holdings CEO Mark Fitzgibbon is amongst the business leaders who have also questioned whether the right to disconnect laws are needed. Bendigo & Adelaide Bank CEO Marnie Baker in turn says workers should be able to choose whether to disconnect from their employer outside of working hours.

CORPORATES
NIB HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NHF, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN

Right to disconnect? We’re already doing it, say bosses

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Original article by Gus McCubbing
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 2 : 20-Feb-24

The federal government’s move to enshrine an employee’s ‘right to disconnect’ in workplace laws continues to attract scrutiny. Australian Human Resources Institute CEO Sarah McCann-Bartlett says these provisions of the Closing Loopholes Bill No. 2 have increased employers’ concerns about the pace and extent of the government’s workplace reforms. Research undertaken by the AHRI in October found that 40 per cent of respondents’ organisations already have a ‘right to disconnect’ policy, while nearly 90 per cent said the policy is successful.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN HUMAN RESOURCES INSTITUTE

Staff disconnects from Tony Burke’s own office

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Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 5 : 13-Feb-24

The Department of Employment & Workplace Relations has disclosed that 36 per cent of its employees had an approved working from home arrangement at the end of October 2023. However, an Australian Public Service employee census survey shows that 72 per cent of the department’s staff had worked remotely at some point during 2023, including on an informal or ad hoc basis. The release of this data has coincided with the federal government’s push to introduce a legislated right for employees to ‘disconnect’ from their workplace outside of their designated working hours. Meanwhile, some 57 per cent of employees across the public service who completed the survey had access to working from home arrangements in 2023, compared with 46 per cent in 2021.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS

Right to disconnect from work should be law: union

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Original article by Helen Trinca
The Australian – Page: 19 : 26-Jul-23

The Australian Services Union is pushing for the right to disconnect from work to be enshrined in the Fair Work Act. The ASU’s assistant national secretary Emeline Gaske notes that a growing number of countries are introducing a legislated right for employees to refuse to answer work-related emails or phone calls outside of their standard working hours. An ASU survey of clerical and administrative workers across several industries has found, amongst other things, that one in three respondents are expected to perform work outside their scheduled work hours; in addition, half of all workers feel pressured to take calls or monitor emails outside of work hours.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN SERVICES UNION

Underpayment rife among migrant workers

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Original article by Tom McIlroy, Michael Read
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 24-May-23

Research from the Grattan Institute has concluded that up to 16 per cent of recent migrants to Australia are being paid less than the minimum wage. This equates to around 82,000 workers; the research also suggests that up to 42,000 recent migrants are being underpaid by at least $3 an hour. Migrant workers were found to be vulnerable to many forms of exploitation apart from wage underpayment, such as unpaid leave, superannuation and penalty rates, cash-back arrangements, racism and sexual harassment. The Institute has made 27 recommendations to protect workers from exploitation.

CORPORATES
GRATTAN INSTITUTE

‘Make domestic violence leave a right’: Westacott

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 2 : 7-Sep-21

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has criticised how the courts deal with victims of domestic violence during a speech to the National Summit on Women’s Safety. Business Council of Australia CEO Jennifer Westacott used her address to call for paid domestic violence leave to become a universal employment right. Chief Executive Women Australia president Sam Mostyn told the summit that the majority of boards and CEOs are actively working on strategies to deal with violence against women and children. A 2016 report from PwC found that the total cost of violence against women and children is in excess of $22 billion.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE WOMEN, PRICEWATERHOUSECOOPERS AUSTRALIA (INTERNATIONAL) PTY LTD

Unions push for better protections as 80% of employees say they want to keep working from home

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Original article by Paul Karp
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 4-Nov-20

The ACTU proposes to adopt a charter of rights about working from home. The charter covers issues such as a safe working environment and the right to be compensated for all hours worked from home. Meanwhile, the ACTU has released a survey of 10,000 workers which found that 81 per cent want to keep working from home if they have sufficient support from their employer. Some 47% of respondents said they are more productive at home, while 49 per cent reported experiencing a mental health issue due to working from home.

CORPORATES
ACTU

Telstra offers affected staff 14 days’ leave pay

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 4 : 12-Mar-20

The ACTU has urged the federal government to underwrite two weeks’ paid leave for all permanent, casual and contract workers who are directly affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The proposal has been rejected by employers’ group and Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter. Meanwhile, Telstra has advised that all employees whose jobs mean they cannot work from home – such as technicians and store staff – will receive 14 days of paid leave if they are forced to self-isolate or must care for children due to the closure of schools or child-care centres. Less than 10 per cent of Telstra staff cannot work from home.

CORPORATES
ACTU, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS, TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS

Negligent profits at workers’ expense

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 8 : 21-Feb-20

Super Retail Group has advised that the extent of its wage underpayment scandal is worse than initially thought. The retailer says employees have been underpaid by $61.2m, compared with a previous estimate of $53m. Meanwhile, Professor Andrew Stewart from the University of Adelaide suggests that some employers have been negligent by shifting staff to annualised salaries while failing to determine if they have been working additional hours.

CORPORATES
SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE