Posts: Wages

In June 2015, Judge Jarrett of the Federal Circuit Court of Australia found that a Northern Queensland-based tour company and its owner had underpaid five employees and contravened the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).

Employment Issues, Adverse Action & Unfair Dismissal, Industrial Issues

Modern Awards, employment issues, industrial issues, Bullying, Harassment and Discrimination, Work Health & Safety, Worker's compensation.

What is Casual Employment? Recent developments, possible claims, action plan.

It is estimated that there is over $70,000 in unpaid wages owing to employees, and many of those are international workers on visas who are not eligible for the government-funded Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme.

Since the introduction of the modern award system in 2010 many employers have found it difficult to understand the complex requirements. In fact, the Fair Work Ombudsman reported that for the 2013-2014 financial year it recovered more than $23 million for 15,483 workers.

The Federal Circuit Court of Australia recently found a director and two managers of a company which operated a Victorian BP Service station personally liable for the underpayment of wages and breaches of the Fair Work Act 2009.

Department store Myer has come under increased pressure from the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) after it declined to enter into a voluntary compliance deed with the regulator.

The Director of Sona Peaks Pty Ltd (in liquidation) which traded as an Indian food restaurant in Victoria was recently ordered by the Federal Circuit Court of Australia to pay a total of $26,715 (plus interest) by way of an Attachment of Earnings Order to his wages with his new employer Metro Trains Melbourne Pty Ltd.

In the recent Federal Circuit Court of Australia’s decision in Fair Work Ombudsman v Lu’s Healthcare Pty Ltd & Anor [2016] FCCA 506 (Massage Case) massage parlours were warned that failure to comply with the obligations under modern awards and applicable employment laws will not be tolerated.

It has recently been reported that celebrity fashion designer, Johanna Johnson who has designed gowns for Madonna and Christina Hendricks is being pursued in court by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and former employees for more than $1 million. The amount includes at least $300,000 in owed superannuation that had not been paid to employees for many years.

In a recent Federal Circuit Court decision, Fair Work Ombudsman v Commercial and Residential Cleaning Group Pty Ltd & Ors [2017] FCCA 2838, Judge Lucev ordered significant penalties against a Perth cleaning company and two of its directors.

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) continues to successfully prosecute and investigate businesses that exploit workers from overseas. In a recent investigation of a Perth restaurant, the FWO found that two overseas workers had been underpaid by their employer to the tune of $13,822. After admitting to a number of contraventions, the employer agreed to enter into an enforceable undertaking with the FWO to make good.

When a company is confronted with a downturn in business it can be a very difficult time for both employers and employees. As part of ensuring the financial viability of the business employers are often forced to consider reducing workforce size by way of forced or voluntary redundancies. But, it’s not always the case that an employer needs to resort to redundancies to reduce its wages costs. In a recent decision of the Fair Work Commission, an employer was praised for its efforts to retain staff during a difficult period.

In recent years, the Fair Work Ombudsman has made it clear that it is prepared to prosecute not only employers, but also individuals and third parties ‘involved in’ contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act). Most recently, the FWO was successful in its prosecution of a Chinese restaurant as well as its sole director, its human resources manager and its store manager for various breaches of the FW Act, which resulted in 85 employees being underpaid a total of $583,688.68 over a 16 month period.

It has been more than two years since modern award penalty rates were identified as an issue for review by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) and there is still no ruling from the FWC Full Bench as to whether penalty rates in the hospitality and retail industries will change or remain the same.

Airtasker is the most recent operator in the “gig” economy facing allegations of sham contracting and underpayment for work performed.

In September 2015, the Fair Work Amendment (Gender Pay Gap) Bill 2015 (the Bill) was introduced in the Senate by the Australian Greens Deputy Leader. The Bill was recently considered by the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee who will release a report in mid-November 2016.

Earlier this month, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) announced that cleaners working at hotels run by Oaks Hotels & Resorts Limited (Oaks), a major operator of more than 43 properties across Australia, have been back paid a total of $1.9 million.

Earlier this year, we told the tale of the of the trolley collectors in Once upon a trolley – an ongoing saga involving underpayments, vulnerable workers and the Fair Work Ombudsman’s (FWO’s) scrutiny of labour supply chains. In that blog, we focussed on an enforceable undertaking that involved Coles supermarkets and the FWO. Now, Woolworths have come to the trolley collectors’ party, this time in the form of a Proactive Compliance Deed with the FWO.

In most cases, a finding of deliberate non-compliance by a business will result in the imposition of a hefty fine by a court (a pecuniary penalty order). It is also not uncommon to see courts issue other orders such as requiring non-compliant businesses to undergo external audits or requiring managers to undergo specific training. The Federal Circuit Court of Australia has recently utilised the wide scope of this power in Fair Work Ombudsman v Greenan (No. 2) [2017] FCCA 2059.

It is no secret that the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has been cracking down on employers breaching their employment obligations under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the FW Act) and exploiting vulnerable workers in order to gain financial and competitive advantage. Indeed, the Federal Government is very close to passing a Bill through Parliament that will not only impose much harsher penalties on employers but will also increase the FWO’s powers to investigate this type of behaviour.

Student accommodation provider UniLodge faced reports this month that it deducted a total amount of $74,336.00 for “rent” over the period October 2011 to April 2016 from the combined salary of two of its onsite caretakers.

Sham contracting and the exploitation of vulnerable workers have been hot topics recently following a series of high profile cases including the likes of 7Eleven, Baiada Poultry and Quest Serviced Apartments. The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) continues its crusade, investigating and litigating claims related to worker exploitation in supply chain arrangements.

Recenty, MAdE Establishment Group (the Group) and its celebrity chef director and founder went public with a mea culpa that it underpaid the wages of at least 162 employees across its Melbourne restaurants.

The FWO has stressed that workers (i.e. labour hire and employees) must be paid the correct wage in accordance with the Horticulture Award. It is likely that the FWO will be closely monitoring the horticulture industry (and other industries where visa holders are predominately employed) given the high incidences of exploitation that have recently been reported in the media.

This is the first decision in which the FWO has secured penalties against a master franchisor for its involvement in contraventions of the FW Act.