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Workplace Matters

In the agency’s latest analysis, chief Mary Wooldrige was encouraged that almost all sectors – except education and training – had tightened the total remuneration pay gap between men and women.

Workplace MattersPremiumBonuses, blokey jobs make narrowing pay gap tricky task

Government efforts to find and close pay gaps between men and women are showing tedious progress, new data suggests, as childcare and entrenched workplace practices prove stubborn obstacles.

Simone Grogan

Stories of people moving from accounting roles to carpentry, marketing to bricklaying and project management to electrical work – switching from a white collar to a dose of blue – look like tales of an increasingly smart choice, writes Gary Martin.

opinion
opinion
Gary MartinCommentsPremium
opinion
Rise of blue collar switch shouldn’t come as a surprise

Stories of people moving from accounting roles to carpentry, marketing to bricklaying and project management to electrical work look like tales of increasingly smart choices.

Gary Martin

Bankwest is pursuing a new course as a digital-only bank.

BankingCommentsPremiumIs this the ‘final nail in the coffin’ for Bankwest?

Commonwealth Bank has confirmed it wants to do away with a separate enterprise agreement for 1400 Bankwest staff in WA in favour of groupwide bargaining for its 33,000-strong workforce.

Sean Smith

Lobby groups say the court’s ruling overturns “reasonable” Fair Work Commission limits.

MiningCommentsPremiumCourt hands unions even more power on mine sites

Mining and energy groups say a Federal Court ruling on union delegates will create two tiers of workers — those who ‘actually work’ and those who do ‘whatever they please’.

Adrian Rauso

West Australians are heading into the break with one eye on the beach and the other on the numbers. 

Workplace MattersCommentsWA workers looking beyond one job

West Australians are heading into the break with one eye on the beach and the other on the numbers. 

Lanna Hill

PeopleKind’s Mark Fitzpatrick, Lifeline WA’s Lorna MacGregor, Crown Resorts’ Tanya Eales, Benang’s Damir Kadic, UWA Business School’s Paul Harrigan, Dr Marny Lishman, Bellevue Gold’s Darren Stralow, Happiness Co’s Julian Pace, South Metropolitan Health Service’s Neil Doverty, AIM WA’s Anna Dartnell and Professor Gary Martin, and psychologist Vanessa Vershaw.

CEOsPremiumWhy these chiefs have workplace wellbeing on the agenda

Leaders might take some inspiration from a recent Gen Z Tiktok trend when setting their corporate culture, amid calls for WA workplaces to be on the front line on mental health. 

Matt Mckenzie

Lisbon airport was nearly deserted at the start of a general strike in Portugal. (AP PHOTO)

Workplace MattersPremiumMajor strike in Portugal disrupts travel and services

Commuters have been brought to a standstill in Portugal as unions stage one of the country's biggest walkouts in years over worker entitlements.

Barry Hatton

The West revealed asbestos was detected in up to 18 fire doors at the new Edith Cowan campus in the city.

updated
updated
ConstructionCommentsPremium
updated
Call for asbestos audit after ECU campus discovery

Suppliers and regulators are scrambling to uncover the full extent of asbestos in fire doors amid revelations it was used in construction projects across the country for two years.

Matt Mckenzie

The mining contractor is based out of an office near Perth Airport and has some 1200 employees. 

ContractingPremiumEmployee of WA contractor dies in machinery incident at mine

WA contractor Macmahon has confirmed one of its employees was killed in an incident at a gold mine in Victoria. 

Simone Grogan

Asbestos has been found on the Edith Cowan University city campus construction project.

ConstructionCommentsPremiumAsbestos fear at new ECU city campus

Asbestos has been detected on a major construction project in Perth’s CBD and unions have sounded the alarm about the ‘outrageous’ oversight.

Matt Mckenzie

Skydivers are set to walk off the job over their pay negotiations with a major tourism operator. (Steven Markham/AAP PHOTOS)

Workplace MattersPremiumSkydivers to stay grounded with pay deal up in the air

Parachutes will stay furled as skydivers walk off the job over a pay proposal by a major employer, with their union insisting the deal will not fly.

Tom Wark

Port Pirie Smelter

EconomyStrike threat looms for bailout plant

Workers at Nyrstar’s troubled Port Pirie smelter in South Australia have voted to strike just months after the plant scored a big taxpayer-funded bailout.

Matt Mckenzie

Stephen and Daryl Martin with their daughters Georgia and Isla.

Gender equalityCommentsPremiumAustralian women earn nearly $30,000 less than men a year

Australia’s gender pay gap has narrowed but working women are still more than $28,000 worse off than men a year, official new data shows.

Cheyanne Enciso

Industrial Relations Minister Simone McGurk.

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
MiningCommentsPremium
The West Australian exclusive
Labor faces internal revolt over mining sex pest plan

The Cook Government’s apparent failure in getting WA miners on board with its plan to stamp out sexual harassment will feature prominently at Labor’s annual State conference.

Adrian Rauso

Bosses in the financial sector across Australia are under pressure to overhaul their work-from-home policies.

Workplace MattersCommentsTwo words bosses can’t say to those who WFH anymore

Bosses in the financial sector have been told to ‘get their house in order’ after a landmark Fair Work Commission ruling found Westpac broke the law when it denied a mother’s remote work request.

Amy Lee

Bank bosses are being warned to check their work-from-home policies after a Fair Work ruling. (David Mariuz/AAP PHOTOS)

work relationsPremiumBanks say WFH not always possible despite ruling

After Westpac unlawfully denied a mother's request to work from home, a union wants banks to acknowledge staff rights to flexibility.

Alex Mitchell

Australia’s youth unemployment rate of 10.2 per cent is already more than double the national average jobless level of 4.5 per cent.

RemunerationCommentsTeenage pay rise will cost jobs, employers warn

A union is likening the push to scrap junior wages to the fight for gender equality as employers warn of youth job losses.

Stephen Johnson

The Fair Work Commission is holding a three-week hearing into the pay scales of younger workers. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

RemunerationPremium'Irrational' rule ripping off young Aussie workers' pay

As soon as Aussie teens turn 18 they are seen as of age in the eyes of the law - but there's one place they still aren't being treated as adults.

Melissa Meehan

Workers will stop delivering money to banks, retailers and ATMs as a pay dispute escalates. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Workplace MattersPremiumStrike scratches cash delivery ahead of spring racing

Workers delivering cash are on strike ahead of the spring racing carnival, which they say will interrupt money being transported to banks, retailers and ATMs.

Rachael Ward

A working mother’s win against Westpac shows just how far the pendulum has swung against employers.

opinion
opinion
BankingComments
opinion
Why Westpac’s WFH loss shows flexibility has gone too far

AARON PATRICK: A working mother’s win against Westpac shows just how far the pendulum has swung against employers.

Aaron Patrick

NZ's nurses and health care workers were among those who took part in a nationwide strike. (Ben McKay/AAP PHOTOS)

Workplace MattersPremiumMore than 100,000 go on strike in NZ for better pay

More than 100,000 workers from several public sectors have walked off the job in New Zealand in a dispute over pay and conditions.

Lucy Craymer

The Fair Work Commission has thrown out the Perth office worker’s unfair dismissal claim.

Court & Justice Perth worker sacked for graphic sex talk with colleagues

A Perth office worker who was sacked for leering at his female colleagues and detailing his open sex life with his wife who was a ‘furry’ has had his claim for unfair dismissal thrown out. 

Sarah Crawford

The Wrst Australian revealed that a former supervisor at the Wiluna West had implored WorkSafe to investigate the operation just two months before it became the site of 32-year-old Kyle Stanley’s death. 

The West Australian exclusive
The West Australian exclusive
MiningPremium
The West Australian exclusive
WorkSafe admits review after The West’s mine death bombshell

WA’s safety regulator has conceded its internal processes need to change in the wake of explosive revelations about the State’s most recent mining death.

Adrian Rauso

In an evolving workforce, Gen Z is rejecting a frenetic, stress-inducing approach to work that crosses work-life balance boundaries and leads to burnout.

Workplace MattersPremium‘It’s PR, not the ER’: Why Gen Z resists work emergencies

In an evolving workforce, Gen Z is rejecting a frenetic, stress-inducing approach to work that crosses work-life balance boundaries and leads to burnout.

Rainesford Stauffer