The Federal Court has refused an application by a company to be represented by its operations manager rather than a lawyer, ruling that the manager lacked "the necessary degree of objectivity and skill" required to conduct the case.
An accountancy firm that knowingly failed to maintain current award rates of pay in its MYOB payroll system has been found accessorially liable for an employer's underpayments.
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.
Caltex has established a $20 million "assistance fund" for franchise employees who have been underpaid, but insists that its franchising model does not need fixing.
In a rare decision on stand-down provisions under the Fair Work Act, the Federal Court has ruled that a contractor failed to comply with its obligation to pay its permanent part-time school cleaners normally during the 16 weeks of school holidays.
The FWC has asked the Turnbull Government to clarify whether it intends to amend the Fair Work Act to enable the tribunal to make take home pay orders to potentially mitigate hardship flowing from its decision to cut hospitality and retail workers' penalty rates, and is seeking further submissions on transitional arrangements.
A vote today has confirmed that key minor crossbench senators have dropped their support for the looming cuts to penalty rates in retail and hospitality.
The ACTU is asking the FWC for a $45 a week or 6.7% increase in the national minimum wage, as it begins a push under its fresh leadership to lift minimum rates towards a new benchmark against average weekly earnings.
