A "recidivist" Tasmanian CFMMEU official whose belligerence has cost the union almost $500,000 in fines is finally off the ABCC's hit list, after a court ruled he should personally pay a $20,000 penalty for the latest of his entry breaches, which stretch back to 2015.
The FWO has won its first "serious contravention" penalties three years after the provisions were added to the Fair Work Act, a café and its former general manager fined a total of $230,000 on their second visit to court for underpaying workers.
A court has today praised RAFFWU for its service of the national interest in pursuing a McDonald's franchisee and securing $82,000 in fines against if for sinister, cruel, coercive threats via Facebook posts to deny its predominantly young workforce drink and toilet breaks required under the fast food chain's agreement.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has made scant use of new powers it won three years ago to conduct compulsory interviews and to prosecute franchisors to help to protect vulnerable workers.
In a significant judgment closely examining the limits of "industrial activity", a full Federal Court led by Chief Justice James Allsop has overturned penalties imposed on two CFMMEU officials for leading a walk-out from a building site that had no separate toilet for a female worker.
A 61-year-old former economics professor has been fined $31,000 for underpaying two visa holders employed at a Korean grocery, a court finding he deliberately arranged for them to receive as little as $10 an hour.
An accountancy firm that created and gave the FWO false records covering up a massage parlour's underpayments must pay more per breach than the family-run employer, which has been fined about 10% of the penalties sought by the workplace watchdog.
The ACCC will argue a Federal Court judge mistakenly found Employsure advertising would not mislead businesses into thinking it is a government agency, in an appeal lodged this week.
In a significant general protections ruling, the Federal Court has today ordered an ASX-listed enterprise software company to pay more than $5.2 million in compensation, damages and penalties to a senior employee sacked after he made bullying complaints.
