The COVID-19 pandemic has brought rapid and far-reaching changes to how businesses operate and how – and where – people work. In this seminar, Professor Anthony Forsyth will explore the changes to our employment laws that have facilitated these new ways of working – through variations to awards and enterprise agreements – and the income support provided to those who have lost work through the JobKeeper scheme. Distinguished Professor Sara Charlesworth will move from this macro focus to consider the regulatory gaps in protection for home care workers highlighted by COVID-19 and the employment impact of government responses to COVID-risks in the home care sector.

Speaker:

Anthony Forsyth is a Professor in the Graduate School of Business and Law at RMIT University. His research focuses on collective bargaining, the regulation of trade unions, labour hire and the gig economy. He is Vice-President of the Australian Labour Law Association and chaired the Victorian Government Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry & Insecure Work (2015-16). He blogs at labourlawdownunder.com.au

Sara Charlesworth is Professor of Gender Work & Regulation in the School of Management and Director of the Centre for People Organisation & Work at RMIT University. Her current research focuses on the regulation of frontline work in aged care. She is a member of the Victorian Government’s Equal Workplaces Advisory Council and co-convenes the Work+Family Policy Roundtable, a network of Australian academics focused on gender, work and care policy.