In a significant decision on FWO investigative powers under recent laws stiffening protections for vulnerable workers, the Federal Court has rejected a franchisor's bid to have declared void a notice to produce documents created before the legislation came into force.
Three payroll officers who "reverse-engineered" false records during an FWO investigation have been fined a total of $121,000 as part of the largest penalty order won by the workplace watchdog.
The Victorian Government has pushed ahead with legislation to create a criminal offence for deliberate underpayment, defying employer calls for it to be scrapped or delayed.
The Victorian Government intends to "pierce the corporate veil" with its forthcoming legislation to introduce criminal penalties for the worst cases of underpayment and exploitation.
The CEPU has been fined $445,000 for historic reporting breaches, a Federal Court judge observing that the penalty would have been higher had the union not moved to clean up its act by employing a compliance officer.
Woolworths claims a class action seeking underpayments of $300 million more than it self-disclosed is "without merit", given it has already committed to fully repay any shortfall.
In a decision reinforcing the need for employers to maintain timesheets, a court has more than doubled the restitution a family-run business must make despite questions of credibility about the sponsored couple claiming underpayments.
Clubs Victoria Inc has sought to be dissolved after a ROC investigation found it "likely" breached the Registered Organisations Act's reporting and recording provisions 29 times over three years, with the watchdog considering civil penalties.
A small coach company that voluntarily repaid two drivers almost $44,000 after admitting underpaying them has been penalised a total of $168,300, despite a judge finding the breaches were a result of "clumsiness and inadvertence" rather than deliberate.
A judge denied the TWU procedural fairness when failing to provide an opportunity to argue against his unsignalled departure from an agreed position between the union and the ROC before imposing a $270,000 penalty for serious record-keeping breaches, a Full Federal Court has found.
