Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has accused the Morrison government of delving into the bottom draw by talking about labour market deregulation as way of lifting the economy out of the COVID-19 crisis.
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The government will seek parliament's approval next month to ensure emergency powers - which allow about 960,000 companies using JobKeeper wage subsidies to vary hours, duties and job location - to continue until March 2021.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has flagged making the arrangements permanent even if businesses no longer access the JobKeeper payments.
"What we have from the government when it comes to the medium and long-term is just going into that bottom drawer and speaking about more labour market deregulation," Mr Albanese told reporters in Sydney on Saturday.
"The fact is that insecure work is not just a problem for the economy, we've seen during this crisis that insecure work is an issue with the spread of this virus."
He said many people have no alternative but to turn up to work or simply miss out on that income they need.
More flexible employment arrangements are understood to be part of a Omnibus Bill to be presented to parliament when it is next scheduled to sit in late August.
This will include the adjustments and extension of the JobKeeper wage subsidy and the enhanced JobSeeker program that were announced this week.
The Weekend Australian newspaper reported that the key crossbench votes of One Nation in the Senate will back the extension of the emergency industrial relation changes.
Centre Alliance senator Sterling Griff also told the newspaper that while he still had to discuss the issue with his party, it "made sense" to keep in place processes that kept people in work.
Business leaders say now is not the time for "tired old arguments" in opposition to workplace law changes.
Australian Industry Group chief Innes Willox says flexibility provisions will be needed "for the foreseeable future".
"IR reform has a vital role to play in encouraging employers to retain existing employees and to take on the hundreds of thousands of workers who have lost their jobs in the past few months," he said.
"Now is not the time for tired old arguments in opposition to IR reforms. Sensible and fair reforms are essential to boost employment, productivity and growth during the recovery from the pandemic."
A recent government survey of businesses on JobKeeper found three in four had used the flexible provisions to keep operating.
Australian Associated Press
