In a decision reinforcing the need for employers to maintain timesheets, a court has more than doubled the restitution a family-run business must make despite questions of credibility about the sponsored couple claiming underpayments.
A Federal Court judge has foreshadowed today that he will order a litigation funder to provide security for the potential costs of two IR class actions, while observing that such a move is unlikely to have a "stultifying" effect on the proceedings.
A looming Federal Court judgment on whether to grant security of costs to employers facing multi-million-dollar casuals class actions could make employment matters much less attractive to litigation funders, according to a law firm that is targeting the black coal mining industry.
The Fair Work Ombudsman will seek special leave from the High Court to appeal a full Federal Court ruling on whether hundreds of casual mushroom workers on non-compliant piecework agreements are entitled by default to be paid hourly rates under the horticultural award.
A s-x-shop sales worker and "booth" monitor is suing his employer for more than $30,000 in alleged underpayments he claims to be owed under the general retail award, while also suggesting that it wrongly classified him as a casual employee.
A landmark contempt finding and accompanying jail sentence hailed as proof of the FWO's commitment to justice has been overturned by a full Federal Court that found the ruling judge's "open" hostility to the underpaying employer compromised his ability to consider the evidence.
In a decision vindicating the FWO's resistance to the grouping of multiple contraventions for the purpose of setting penalties, the workplace watchdog has won a fivefold increase in fines imposed on an underpaying company director.
Labor has pledged to immediately increase the minimum wage for skilled overseas visa workers to $65,000 - a rise of almost 21% - if it wins the Federal election
The CFMMEU will this week seek to intervene in a class action pursuing leave entitlements for thousands of Workpac's on-hire casual black coal mine workers, at a hearing expected to also deal with the company's bid to block another casual, Robert Rossato, from winning entitlements.
As United Voice seeks to quash a 2007 "zombie" agreement at Justin Hemmes' Merivale hospitality company on the basis that workers would be better off under the award, the FWO says it found no "non-compliance issues" when it audited the company in May.
