Merivale has hit back at a class action's claims it underpaid thousands of salaried employees and others engaged under a pre-Fair Work "zombie" deal and is maintaining it can use overpayments to offset additional entitlements.
Three payroll officers who "reverse-engineered" false records during an FWO investigation have been fined a total of $121,000 as part of the largest penalty order won by the workplace watchdog.
Coles says a class action seeking to recoup more than $150 million allegedly owed to salaried managers is without merit, given it is already on track to finalise its review and start re-paying affected employees.
A full Federal Court has reproached a State employment tribunal member for his tardiness in determining appropriate penalties for an underpaying employer, suggesting that had no fine been imposed it might have been spared considering an unremarkable appeal involving "modest" sums.
The Federal Court has held that a BMA coal loading facility breached a reasonable overtime clause in its enterprise agreement by requiring workers to perform more than eight additional hours per week.
Woolworths claims a class action seeking underpayments of $300 million more than it self-disclosed is "without merit", given it has already committed to fully repay any shortfall.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has put companies and boards "on notice" after Woolworths revealed that 5,700 salaried employees at its supermarkets and metro stores have been underpaid by up to $300 million.
A judge has ordered more than $200,000 in compensation and penalties against two underpaying former company directors at the same time as roundly rejecting FWO attempts to characterise the dental technician involved as a "vulnerable" visa-holder.
The CFMMEU has taken a leaf from the ABCC's playbook by invoking the High Court's 'personal payments order' decision in arguing penalties levied against an underpaying, bankrupt former director of a liquidated company should discourage such practices from being considered as "simply the cost of doing business".
The FWO is prosecuting the operators of a Sydney restaurant for allegedly underpaying a skilled worker on a SubClass 457 visa by more than $150,000 while they maintained "overall control" of his bank account.
