The Federal Court has imposed a record penalty on a sushi restaurant chain to "disabuse" employers of the notion that penalties for underpayments are "an acceptable cost of doing business" and recommended that the Fair Work Ombudsman refer its chief executive's potential flouting of tax and migration laws to the ATO, Department of Home Affairs and ASIC.
A senior lawyer says finance sector employers should "urgently review" their employment agreements after a finding that a commission-based advisor is award-covered and that a leading wealth management company cannot use those payments to offset his entitlements.
In a landmark ruling today on franchisors' IR compliance obligations, the Federal Court has imposed a $1.44 million fine on a coffee chain for its franchisees' underpayments and record-keeping breaches.
Qantas decided to outsource about 1700 ground crew during the pandemic "come hell or high water", according to the Federal Court judge hearing the union compensation claim for the former employees.
A "wealthy" global sports company's mistaken belief that a sacked manager took unapproved days off has contributed to a judge finding that it should be hit with only 25% of the maximum penalty for taking three months to pay out his annual leave entitlements.
Construction giant Laing O'Rourke has failed to block consideration of compensation and penalties while it appeals a finding that it unlawfully sacked a manager over an altercation at a party during a bushfire recovery project.
A massage business and its director must pay more than $2 million in fines and compensation after significantly short-changing temporary visa workers, subjecting them to a "cashback" scheme and threatening to kill their families if they blew the whistle.
A judge has warned the FWO of a possible "perception" it failed to comply with its model litigant obligations after dropping the "most serious" claim of threatening behaviour from a CFMEU right of entry case as part of a liability deal.
The HR manager of a dumpling chain fined $4 million over a "deceitful and unscrupulous" payroll scam has been hit with a $100,000 penalty for her role, after the Federal Court heard a big sanction might force her to sell her share of her home.
A court has accepted that Melbourne University threatened two casual workers that "if you claim outside your contracted hours don't expect work next year" and when one worker tried to claim five additional hours it refused to further engage her, calling her a "self-entitled Y-genner" on a "crusade behind the scenes".
