The FWC has thrown out an employer's argument that a "wide view" of the Fair Work Act allowed it to make four safety officers working on the Gorgon LNG project redundant when they refused to accept a 13% pay cut.
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.
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 FWC has reduced Sunday penalty rates in the hospitality, retail, fast food and pharmacy sectors and pared-back public holiday penalties in five awards, in a landmark ruling today by a five-member full bench.
A director who appears to be operating a "phoenix" labour hire company and his former HR manager have been penalised $25,000 for their knowing involvement in unlawfully deducting $130,000 from the wages of 102 Crown Casino and Federation Square cleaners and providing false records to the FWO.
A court has cleared the way for an employee to pursue claims for $29,000 in allegedly unpaid overtime and lunch breaks after finding her employment contract failed to specify the provisions of the clerks award that would be bought out in her annualised salary.
The FWC is canvassing whether it should rule early next year on the United Voice request to follow the UK's lead in setting a medium-term target for the minimum wage.
A cleaning company that shamelessly exploited a vulnerable workforce made "inept attempts” to avoid the legal consequences when it claimed its employees were independent contractors, the Federal Court has found.
A big marine service provider has had a win against the MUA in the deadlocked bargaining round covering offshore oil and gas service vessels, which began in December 2012.
A contractor "knowingly involved" in underpaying vulnerable supermarket trolley collectors and a subcontractor who "deliberately" produced false payment records and underpaid employees have been fined more than $90,000 by the Federal Court.
