• Decoupling the minimum wage and inflation

    Mark Humphery-Jenner     |      May 20, 2022

    A 5% increase in the minimum wage has emerged as a point of difference in the election campaign, but there may be no need to link the minimum wage to inflation.

  • Are fat cat CEOs worth their paychecks?

    Mariano Heyden     |      September 28, 2019

    CEOs of major companies are paid vast sums, not least to ruthlessly cut the jobs and wages of the people actually doing the work. Are they worth the millions they take for themselves?

  • Workers are getting shortchanged by employers

    Sarah Kaine     |      August 3, 2019

    The theft of wages and benefits from low paid and vulnerable workers is on the rise and companies and bosses should be called out and punished accordingly.

  • Working hard to make work fairer

    Kate Stanton     |      June 4, 2019

    A proactive model helps the Fair Work Ombudsman track down unscrupulous employers who exploit or underpay their workers.

  • Low paid workers get a small pay rise

    Jim Stanford     |      June 2, 2019

    Waiting for “market forces” to reverse recent record weakness in wage growth hasn’t worked. Nothing does more to create sustainable economic momentum than strong, sustained increases in the minimum wage. The Fair Work Commission is helping, but it could have been more ambitious.

  • The false hope offered by talk of a living wage

    John Freebairn     |      April 27, 2019

    Although it sounds attractive in theory, a higher minimum or “living wage” would give minimal assistance to some people on low incomes, while advantaging others not generally considered in need of support.

  • Australia short changes migrant workers

    Joo-Cheong Tham     |      March 27, 2019

    Australia’s Fairwork Commission has examined more than a dozen cases of wage theft this year, involving hundreds of migrant workers and millions of dollars in underpayments.

  • Could “shadow equity” help workers escape the low wage trap?

    Richard Holden     |      March 21, 2019

    Paying workers in a similar way to executives might start to reverse the widening gulf in renumeration between executives and employees.