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 FWO is prosecuting the operators of a Sydney restaurant for allegedly underpaying a skilled worker on a SubClass 457 visa by more than $150,000 while they maintained "overall control" of his bank account.
Rockpool has hit back at a chef's claims that he was underpaid and expected to work extreme hours while on an annualised salary arrangement, maintaining that it is up to him to produce accurate records and establish any sum allegedly owed.
A construction company's refusal to to engage a non-union subcontractor at the CFMMEU's behest has now cost it $275,000 in penalties and compensation, with the Federal Circuit Court noting such conduct "has the potential to perpetuate a culture of submission".
The AWU says that Esso Australia has slashed the size of a compensation claim over unprotected industrial action in 2015 from $54 million to about $8.6 million.
A judge has in imposing a penalty on the CFMMEU for a worksite shutdown described as "something of a fiction" any belief that such fines will deter the union from future contraventions.
A judge has rebuked the FWO over its handling of a case brought against a silo manufacturer accused of underpaying two workers less than $13,000, observing that the "sorry saga" had "developed elephantiasis" and it was time it was brought to an end.
The AWU has made a formal agreement with the Registered Organisation Commission over its civil prosecution alleging breaches of the law that regulates union membership matters.
