'Part-time flex' employment is being proposed in this week's IR omnibus bill, while other newly announced measures include a criminal offence of wage theft, and extending pandemic-related flexibilities.
Details of the imminent IR legislation have now been revealed, including a statutory definition of casual work, a fix for double-dipping claims and expanded casual conversion rights.
Making employment laws fit for purpose will require much more than "tweaks", and already there appears to be a lost opportunity for input beyond the "usual suspects" with entrenched views, an IR heavyweight says.
HR's challenges around remote and flexible working will continue to develop in 2021, while compliance is an area that "will come back with a vengeance", an employment lawyer says.
A redeployment offer that added nearly two hours to an employee's daily commute was reasonable, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in reducing his redundancy pay. Also in this article: a roundup of recent dismissal cases; and other compliance developments.
The funder of two class actions no longer has to provide security for costs in case it loses, after a full Federal Court overturned a landmark decision.
The Fair Work Commission has again rejected undertakings that BHP's in-house labour hire organisation hoped would push its enterprise agreements over the line.
An employer and its directors have failed to argue they have "suffered enough" after underpaying workers and shouldn't be fined for their Fair Work breaches.
