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.
The FWO has launched a test case against the operator of a pop-up toy store, seeking to reverse the onus of proof for underpayments and rely for the first time on serious contraventions provisions that potentially expose the company and its director to 10 times the ordinary maximum penalties.
In a ruling criticising the practice of diplomats recruiting domestic workers from overseas, the FWC has ordered Iraq's consul-general to pay $20,000 to a Filipina live-in nanny dismissed after raising concerns about her entitlements.
A company director has been found personally liable for her company's adverse action when a visa worker was threatened with the sack for speaking to an FWO inspector.
The Federal Circuit Court has imposed a fine if almost $100,000 on a former Caltex franchisee who admitted falsifying wage records for migrant workers, prompting warnings that higher penalties are now possible.
A company providing first aid services at major events has been fined $250,000 for underpaying casuals after a medical certificate attesting its sole director was "unfit for work/school" over a five-day period that included the court hearing failed to secure an adjournment.
An FWO report released hot on the heels of Caltex's announcement that it will exit franchising has revealed non-compliance at 76% of audited sites and accuses the oil giant of contributing to breaches by failing to put effective systems in place, despite warnings.
A tribunal has penalised the operator of a string of Adelaide massage parlours who said he refused to keep records and provide pay slips because he was "too busy and lazy".
An employer could face a ninefold increase in fines ordered by the Federal Circuit Court after the FWO successfully appealed the judgment on the basis that it wrongly grouped contraventions as a single course of action.
