The Federal Court has found that shifting seasonal workers to a new employer after they'd worked 40 hours a week was a "sham" arrangement to avoid paying overtime.
A new paper recommends changes to the Fair Work Act to provide stronger protections for students undertaking vocational placements and work experience, suggesting they have become the new "phenomenon" of the workplace in the 21st century following the casualisation of the 1980s and 1990s.
The Federal Court has stayed a $300,000 Federal Magistrates Court penalties and backpay order against a call centre, while imposing a conditional security payment, acknowledging the employer's chances of a successful appeal are "not strong".
Two companies and their directors linked to a Perth café that failed to pay wages for months to three Chinese 457 visa workers, provided no payslips and kept no employment records have been ordered by the Federal Magistrates Court to pay almost $30,000 in penalties.
