Inspectors and inspectorates page 21 of 28

An accountancy firm that knowingly failed to maintain current award rates of pay in its MYOB payroll system has been found accessorially liable for an employer's underpayments.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James says low penalties are creating a "perverse incentive" for a "dangerous minority" of employers to use inaccurate or incomplete records to conceal underpayments, forcing the watchdog to use novel, labour-intensive strategies to piece together employees' working hours.

A court has found a delegate liable as an accessory for adverse action after he stood by and failed to correct the record when an organiser told workers they would be removed from a construction site if they refused to join the union.

The new standalone regulator for registered organisations will start operating on Monday, May 1, with its new powers taking effect by the following day.

An overseas worker who was underpaid in multiple jobs effectively received 47 cents an hour, a Senate inquiry heard today.

The Federal Court has acknowledged in imposing more than $100,000 in fines on the AMWU, AWU and CFMEU and their organisers for taking unlawful industrial action and adverse action against Australian Paper that the unions only became involved when they "properly responded to the workers' needs".

The Federal Court has today imposed almost $600,000 in fines on the CFMEU and 10 officials for organising two days of industrial action at nine Kane Constructions sites three years ago.

After what the FWO says is the first judicial review of one of its compliance notices, the Federal Circuit Court has found that a cook engaged at a Hindu temple was underpaid because he was wrongly classified as a priest under his employment contract.

The rapid rise of the "gig" economy has "normalised" sham contracting and exploitation of young workers, according to a submission to a Senate inquiry into corporate avoidance of the Fair Work Act.

As a court fines a regional café more than $500,000 for exploiting overseas workers and the FWO pursues two other cafes for unlawful "cash-back" schemes, Ombudsman Natalie James has welcomed the Federal Government's commitment to introducing laws to prohibit such arrangements.