Underpaying employers could face fines of more than $4 million or three times the sum involved, while individuals such as directors and HR managers could face imprisonment and penalties up to $825,000 per breach under further wage theft reforms being considered by the Albanese Government.
A dumpling chain's HR manager was knowingly concerned in its Fair Work Act contraventions and "did not simply act as a conduit", the Federal Court has held in a liability judgment, finding she also instructed and trained a colleague in a payroll scam using both accurate and inaccurate records.
The FWC has warned a radiology provider whose HR manager took an "ill-informed" position that it risks a civil penalty and underpayment claims if it requires part-timers to put in extra hours without overtime pay or agreement and fails to put working patterns in writing.
Employers say the remuneration bill for workers with a disability covered by the Supported Employment Services Award might increase by up to 50% following variations that the FWC says will give them a "truly comprehensive range of fair minimum wages" for the first time.
In what it claims is its first litigation seeking to have a holding company found responsible for its subsidiaries' breaches, the FWO has initiated court action against ASX-listed Super Retail Group for self-reported underpayments of more than $1 million that led to an internal audit and backpayments exceeding $50 million that the watchdog says remain short of the mark.
A court has fined the director of a Japanese restaurant almost $25,000 after finding that he "reverse engineered" pay records provided to the FWO and asked a shortchanged employee not to "sell me out".
A large employer has been fined almost $100,000 after a court rejected its "bare apology" for requiring a newly-arrived migrant to work 12 extra hours a week for more than three years.
A Federal Court judge has while fining a franchisor almost $500,000 for deliberately underpaying Taiwanese interns speculated that a recent High Court ruling will impel more parties to agree on penalties rather than go to trial, an "unfortunate by-product" being fewer judgments offering "yardsticks" for future cases.
The aged care case full bench has late this afternoon accepted the work value grounds for lifting pay for "direct care" workers in the sector, awarding them an interim 15% rise.
The FWC has renewed entry permits for three CFMMEU officials, but has made them conditional on them not exercising specific entry powers designed to protect textile, clothing and footwear workers, unless they complete further training.
