A judge has slapped the University of Melbourne with a $74,590 penalty for taking adverse action against two casual academics to prevent them from claiming payment for extra hours worked.
A Sydney law firm and its principal have been fined $14,400 for disobeying a Fair Work Ombudsman compliance notice issued for the alleged underpayment of a paralegal, with a judge saying the lawyer’s belief she did not owe any wages was “unreasoned and unreasonable”.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has won its underpayments case against restaurant chain Sushi Bay and its director, with a judge finding the company forced migrant workers to pay back their entitlements in cash in a “calculated and institutional effort” to conceal wrongdoing.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has brought proceedings against three United Petroleum-branded outlets in Tasmania and South Australia, alleging they underpaid migrant workers by more than $26,000.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has taken the University of New South Wales to court, alleging its record keeping practices were “so inadequate” that it was difficult to identify whether employees were underpaid.
The Australian arm of coffee giant Starbucks has backpaid part-time workers across 52 stores $4.5 million, after discovering it failed to pay proper overtime rates.
CBA should pay a penalty of $12.8 million — close to the maximum penalty the court can impose on the bank — for underpaying its staff to the tune of $16.4 million, a judge has heard.
A court has found the managing director of teahouse franchise Chatime liable for the underpayment of staff, despite accepting that he believed the company’s wage system was not unlawful.
Retailer Best & Less will back-pay staff over $5.2 million as part of an undertaking to the Fair Work Ombudsman, after an internal review found salaried managers were not paid enough to cover their entitlements.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has revealed that its files were among those exposed in a cyberattack against law firm HWL Ebsworth.