The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, has advised that the minimum wage will increase from today.The decision by the Australian Fair Pay Commission earlier this year increases adult rates of pay in Australian Pay and Classification Scales (Pay Scales) by approximately $21.66 per week. From today, the new Federal Minimum Wage is $543.78 per week ($14.31 per hour) up from $522.12 per week ($13.74 per hour). The increases will flow on to minimum rates of pay for junior... ...Read more »
The Federal Workplace Ombudsman has announced a national campaign targeting the hospitality industry. Hotels, restaurants, taverns, bars and clubs throughout Australia will be randomly audited to ensure workers are being properly paid, with the three-month long campaign to begin next week. Workplace inspectors in all states and territories will be checking to ensure compliance with: • Rates of pay (including casual rates and minimum rates) • Penalty loadings (weekend, late nights) • Allowances •... ...Read more »
Less than half the restaurants and cafes in central and northern Queensland are complying with workplace laws, a targeted campaign by the federal Workplace Ombudsman has revealed.More than 270 workers have been reimbursed almost $97,000 after random audits found they were being underpaid, with one business required to back-pay 54 staff $21,000. Workplace inspectors have been checking the books of 151 restaurants, cafes and caterers following suspicions that workers may not be getting their full entitlements. Investigations... ...Read more »
A company which underpaid and bullied disabled workers hired to collect supermarket trolleys has been fined $120,000.Federal Magistrate Philip Burchardt says the company - Xidis Pty Ltd, trading as Effective Supermarket Services - used deliberate tactics to “intimidate” its workforce in the NSW border town of Albury. Magistrate Burchardt found that the sole director and shareholder, Nick Iksidis, “exploited vulnerable employees”. “Mr Iksidis chose a workforce that he... ...Read more »
A Melbourne fish and chip shop has been fined $17,000 for paying two 14 and 15-year-old girls just $5 an hour.The business has also been ordered to back-pay the teenagers almost $1500 after an investigation by the federal Workplace Ombudsman. Owner Con Papageorgiou, trading as Sharx, told workplace inspectors he thought he was doing the girls “a favour” by giving them work experience. Papageorgiou paid the girls a flat rate of $5 an hour at his take-away shop at Ferntree Gully’s... ...Read more »
Peak retail industry body, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), has indicated their support of the flexibility clause of the modern award, after the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) announced retail as a priority industry on Friday.ARA Executive Director Richard Evans welcomed the AIRC’s acknowledgement that there is a need for flexible individual agreements between employers and employees in the retail sector. “The flexibility clause covering arrangements regarding... ...Read more »
The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, and Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Julia Gillard, yesterday released the new National Employment Standards (NES).The NES are a key element of the Rudd Government’s new workplace relations system and will come into effect on 1 January 2010, with the Government indicating that the new system should ensure that all employees are protected by a strong safety net of fair minimum conditions. The NES will apply to all employees in the Federal... ...Read more »
Australia’s largest privately-owned confectionery manufacturer and retailer - Darrell Lea - has been fined $120,000 in the Federal Magistrate’s Court in Melbourne for breaches of the Workplace Relations Act.The Workplace Ombudsman - which initiated action against the company over its treatment of casual sales assistants, some as young as 16 - welcomed the penalty. Federal Magistrate Philip Burchardt handed down a $10,000 penalty against the family-owned company for each of 12 instances... ...Read more »
About 60 Warrnambool fast food and restaurant workers - some as young as 16 - are to be reimbursed more than $84,000 after investigations by the Workplace Ombudsman found many were being significantly underpaid.Up to 30 workplace inspectors have been auditing 16 restaurants and fast food outlets in Warrnambool for the past nine months, with one restaurant found to have short-changed eight of its staff more than $28,000 between December, 2006 and December, 2007. Workplace Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson... ...Read more »
As of March 28 the changes to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 have come into effect. Consequently, businesses need to be aware of changes to the law which prevent new Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) from being created. There has also been the inroduction of Individual Transitional Employment Agreements (ITEAs), which can be used for a limited time during the transitional period. Additionally, a new no-disadvantage test has been produced by the government for any future workplace agreements. Businesses... ...Read more »