INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS – AUSTRALIA

ABC budgets $23m for underpaid staff

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 3 : 19-Nov-19

The ABC has declined to comment on the likely cost of recompensing casual staff who were underpaid, but insiders claim that at least one employee will receive more than $60,000. The public broadcaster’s latest annual report indicated that it has allocated $22.98m for compensating casual workers who have been underpaid for up to six years, but a spokesman says the final figure is likely to be less than this.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, COMMUNITY AND PUBLIC SECTOR UNION, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE

IR class action costs ruling appealed

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Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 18-Nov-19

UK-based litigation funder Augusta Ventures will appeal a court ruling that it must pay security of costs up-front in a wage theft class action. The case centres on allegations that BHP and labour hire firms underpaid casual workers at the Mount Arthur coal mine. Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox warns that there is the potential for workers to receive nothing from a class action payout once a litigation funder has received its share. He has called for the sector to be subject to the same regulation as financial services providers.

CORPORATES
AUGUSTA VENTURES, BHP GROUP LIMITED – ASX BHP, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, ADERO LAW

Union-buster bill faces delay

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 6 : 14-Nov-19

The federal government is likely to put the Ensuring Integrity Bill on hold until the Senate resumes later in the month unless it secures a deal with crossbenchers on 14 November. Independent senator Jacqui Lambie and One Nation leader Pauline Hanson have reservations about the proposed demerit points system. Meanwhile, the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been fined $38,000 for unlawful industrial action at a building site in Melbourne in April 2015. Two CFMMEU officials have in turn been fined $12,500 in total.

CORPORATES
ONE NATION PARTY, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, CENTRE ALLIANCE, ACTU, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

‘We won’t be shy’: Company bosses could face Senate probe into wage theft

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Original article by David Crowe, Rob Harris
The Age – Page: Online : 14-Nov-19

The Senate’s economics references committee will undertake an inquiry into the issue of wage and superannuation theft. Labor put forward the motion to hold an inquiry in response to recent wage underpayment scandals, although the federal government opposed it. Liberal senator Jonathon Duniam says the Coalition is taking action on the issue, and another ‘talkfest’ is not necessary. Shadow industrial relations minister Tony Burke has described the inquiry as a "win" for Australian workers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, 7-ELEVEN STORES PTY LTD, CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN

Union integrity bill in doubt as senators waver

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Original article by Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 13-Nov-19

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter is confident that the federal government can reach a "sensible compromise" with Senate crossbenchers regarding the Ensuring Integrity Bill. The government had hoped to put the bill to a vote on 13 November, but independent senator Jacqui Lambie has reservations about the proposed demerit points system for unions. She is concerned that the bill would make it harder to deregister "union thugs" than officials who make minor administrative errors. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson also has concerns about the proposed system.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS, ONE NATION PARTY, CENTRE ALLIANCE, CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA

Australia’s top 10 most trusted brands in 2019

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Original article by Isabelle Lane
The New Daily – Page: Online : 13-Nov-19

Five of the 10 most-trusted brands in Australia, as measured by Roy Morgan, have been embroiled in wage underpayment scandals in recent years. They include the nation’s most trusted brand, Bunnings, as well as Woolworths, Coles, Qantas and the ABC. RMIT University’s Professor Anthony Forsyth rejects suggestions that the wage theft scandals can be attributed to Australia’s complex industrial awards system; instead, he contends that businesses are simply not giving sufficient priority to ensuring that their employees are being paid properly.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, RMIT UNIVERSITY

Morrison close on scrapping medivac

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Original article by Rosie Lewis
The Australian – Page: 5 : 11-Nov-19

Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick says his party is close to reaching agreement with the federal government on its Ensuring Integrity Bill. Attorney-General Christian Porter has agreed to several concessions to secure Centre Alliance’s support for the bill, including a demerit-points system for union officials who breach workplace laws. The government is also hopeful of gaining sufficient numbers in the Senate to repeal Labor’s medivac bill.

CORPORATES
CENTRE ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HOME AFFAIRS, LAW COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Underpay bosses face bans

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 7-Nov-19

Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter says the first responsibility of an employer is to ensure that their staff are being paid fairly. Porter has flagged the possibility of making company directors liable for wage theft by banning them from future directorships, although he adds that such legislation is unlikely to be retrospective. Porter also says there is merit in a proposal to allow the Fair Work Commission to hear claims for underpayment by individual workers, as suggested by ACTU secretary Sally McManus.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT, SKILLS, SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, ACTU, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN

Back pay problems besiege big firms

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Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 1-Nov-19

Many companies have opted to replace or upgrade their payroll systems in response to the introduction of the Australian Taxation Office’s digital Single Touch Payroll reporting system. This has in turn resulted in some companies discovering that they have been underpaying their employees, although Woolworths’ wages scandal is not believed to be linked to the transition to the STP system. Australian Retailers Association CEO Russell Zimmerman has called for an overhaul of the modern award system, contending that its complexity has contributed to the rising number of companies that have self-reported wage underpayments to the Fair Work Ombudsman.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, AUSTRALIA. OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF TAXATION AND TAXATION OMBUDSMAN, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, THALES AUSTRALIA HOLDINGS PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, KPMG AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, ERNST AND YOUNG, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, BAKER’S DELIGHT HOLDINGS LIMITED, CHEMIST WAREHOUSE

‘Admission is not absolution’: FWO warns Woolies after $300m wage theft revelations

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Original article by
The New Daily – Page: Online : 31-Oct-19

Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci has apologised after the retail giant became the latest company to be embroiled in the wage underpayment scandal. Woolworths has advised that it faces remediation costs of up to $300m after revealing that some 5,700 employees across its supermarkets and Metro stores have been underpaid, potentially since 2010. Woolworths will also review its non-grocery businesses, such as Big W and Dan Murphy’s. Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker says the size of a company’s underpayment will be taken into consideration when the FWO considers penalties in the future.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, DAN MURPHY’S, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK OMBUDSMAN, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, SUPER RETAIL GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUL, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN