A court has fined Woolworths $233,250 for denying three part-time employees standard rosters, guaranteed hours and overtime pay, citing a lack of evidence "at the corporate mind level" and awarding the full sum to the AMIEU to encourage its enforcement work.
A judge has flagged compensation of more than $600,000 for a former St Vincent de Paul Society senior manager unlawfully sacked following a "sham" HR probe, but declined to award more after finding she misled the court and exaggerated her incapacity.
Woolworths has been hit with another underpayments class action, at the same time it is defending a shareholder class action accusing it of breaching disclosure rules by failing to keep the market informed about the extent to which it has shortchanged staff.
Industry super fund Cbus has been hit with a $23.5 million penalty for delaying payment of death benefits and total and permanent disability claims to thousands of members.
The FWC is considering legal action against former senior officers of the CFMEU construction and general division's Victorian branch after finding they diverted more than $300,000 in member's funds to re-elect now-ousted HSU leader Diana Asmar.
The implications of the Federal Court's retail underpayments decision are only starting to be understood, with employment law academic Andrew Stewart warning of the significent consequences of its redefinition of employer record-keeping obligations and findings on proving workers' agreement to vary award conditions.
The Federal Court has approved a $174 million Victorian Government payout to settle 30 class actions on behalf of junior doctors, of which ASMOF will be reimbursed $175,000, following a finding that a health service "expressly and brazenly" instructed trainees to perform unpaid overtime.
Property giant Brookfield has settled a case with a senior executive retrenched ahead of her return from parental leave, after the company admitted it "fell short" but claimed it has improved its practices.
The workplace watchdog's power to hold franchisors to account for franchisees' underpayments has been bolstered, after a full Federal Court today threw out a challenge by the Bakers Delight chain.
