Penalties page 20 of 44

437 articles are classified in All Articles > Legal > Penalties


Court fines employer for hampering entry rights

A court has penalised an early learning centre that refused on the basis of an alleged threat to its workers' "health and wellbeing" to allow a union organiser use its staff room to hold discussions, directing her instead to a storage room.


Organisations warned over dodgy car sales

Unions and employer groups have been warned over claims that cars are being sold below market value to deliver "windfall gains" to employees, officials and third parties.


Majority rejects restrictive take on general protections laws

A Federal Court full court majority has given a broad meaning to a section in the Fair Work Act's general protections that says employees must be "able to complain" to establish a breach of their workplace rights.

Sacked after taking domestic violence leave, worker claims

A former Melbourne Water advisor is accusing the utility of forcing him to take domestic violence leave and failing to provide a promised permanent job after he disclosed that he was experiencing family violence.

"Emboldened" CFMMEU deserves no penalty discounts: Judge

A judge has today accepted the ABCC's view that the construction union's lengthy rap sheet should influence the penalty for a relatively minor breach, but has declined to impose a personal payment order on the official involved.

CFMMEU appeal erases publication order, but little else

A full Federal Court has largely dismissed the CFMMEU's broad-ranging appeal against more than $300,000 in fines imposed for attempting to force a contractor into signing a union-approved deal, agreeing only that publication orders served no purpose and that too much was made of an "eenie meenie miney mo!" text message.

Contempt for underpayment claim attracts $240K fine

In a case highlighting the dangers of failing to engage with underpayments cases, an employer who did not respond to a claim it short-changed a teenage worker by $8000 must now pay him an additional $240,000 in penalties.

"Dysfunctional" union fined $445K for reporting breaches

The CEPU has been fined $445,000 for historic reporting breaches, a Federal Court judge observing that the penalty would have been higher had the union not moved to clean up its act by employing a compliance officer.