The Fair Work Ombudsman has put companies and boards "on notice" after Woolworths revealed that 5,700 salaried employees at its supermarkets and metro stores have been underpaid by up to $300 million.
A judge has ordered more than $200,000 in compensation and penalties against two underpaying former company directors at the same time as roundly rejecting FWO attempts to characterise the dental technician involved as a "vulnerable" visa-holder.
Australia's two largest employer groups have rejected the Morrison Government's in-principle commitment to introduce criminal offences for the worst cases of underpayment.
Victorian Attorney-General and workplace safety minister Jill Hennessy says that new legislation to create a criminal offence of industrial manslaughter could extend to some workplace-linked suicides and to diseases such as silicosis.
In a decision that potentially moves the dial on how much the 21-day deadline for unfair dismissal claims can be stretched, the FWC has in discerning no practical consequences granted an extension to a worker who lodged their form 29 minutes after midnight on a Friday.
A peak employer body has lost a lengthy battle to reclaim millions of dollars in payroll tax on the basis of its charity status, a court finding the network's model "primarily focused on serving the self-interest of its members" rather than promoting a stronger economy for everyone.
A large employer's decision to excise union references from its representational rights notice has scuppered its proposed agreement, the FWC observing that employees were effectively being "herded" towards two colleagues who had negotiated the previous deal.
A company "motivated by malice" when it forged documents to cut the leave balance of a chief operating officer it perceived as "a thorn in its side" has been ordered to pay $250,000 in penalties and unpaid entitlements.
The Federal Court has closed a loophole under which union organisers maintained they could enter sites to discuss safety issues under state OHS laws without showing their federal entry permits.
A shipping company facing multiple challenges to alleged redundancies is seeking to quash an FWC full bench finding that a model consultation term does not override obligations under its agreement.
