The law firm behind a multi-million-dollar class action against labour hire provider One Key Resources and One Key Holdings says it will test the ability of vulnerable workers legislation to hold parent companies to account.
The Victorian Government has pushed ahead with legislation to create a criminal offence for deliberate underpayment, defying employer calls for it to be scrapped or delayed.
A court has ordered that the Fair Work Ombudsman refund company directors any restitution made to former employees if the regulator is unable to track them down within 28 days.
The ASU has hit out at the FWO for letting Qantas off with a $390,500 "slap on the wrist" contrition fine for underpaying 640 misclassified head office workers by about $7.1 million, but the airline says its self-reported error also led to about $22 million in overpayments.
The Victorian Government intends to "pierce the corporate veil" with its forthcoming legislation to introduce criminal penalties for the worst cases of underpayment and exploitation.
A group of 10 intensive care specialist doctors are suing Victorian public health service Austin Health for more than $3 million in alleged underpayments plus compensation for humiliation and loss of enjoyment.
The NSW Young Liberals have called on the Federal Coalition to establish a three-strike warning system to deal with employers that unintentionally underpay workers and for employees to "bear some of the risk", in a submission warning against "heavy-handed" policies.
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.
Melbourne's Crown Casino is staring down calls to pay about $4.5 million in employee entitlements owed by the operator of a celebrity restaurant on its premises.
