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FWO announces 2021-22 priorities
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker has announced the regulator’s strategic priorities for the year ahead, with the key focus supporting workplaces as they manage the ongoing impacts of COVID-19.
Speaking at a Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) roundtable meeting today, Ms Parker said the contract cleaning sector was a new compliance and enforcement priority this year.
“Intelligence indicates that contract cleaning is part of an industry with large proportions of migrant workers, low paid and part-time workers, who we know are at higher risk of exploitation. The sector also has a significant history of non-compliance, which, combined with an expected quick recovery due to increased demand for COVID-19-safe cleaning practises, makes it a sector to monitor closely.”
Paid vaccine leave would help vulnerable workers and cost less than future lockdowns, according to a new report David Adams Luis Ascui/Pool/Getty Images
Paid vaccination leave would protect vulnerable workers against COVID-19 without making them lose income, a think tank states in a new report. The leave entitlement would be a simple means of removing a key barrier to getting vaccinated, The McKell Institute argues.
The federal government recently revealed $11 million in paid leave funding for aged care sector workers, for whom vaccination will be mandatory by mid-September.
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Paid vaccination leave would protect vulnerable workers against COVID-19 while costing businesses and governments less than future lockdowns, an Australian think tank says, after the federal government revealed a $11 million payment scheme targeted exclusively at aged care workers.
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New wage sheets and updates to Fair Work Act 2009
As the industry prepares for a 2.5 per cent increase in the National Minimum Wage, new wage sheets have now been published.
The increase comes into play from Thursday under the Pastoral Award 2020, with wage sheets now available for cattle, grain, cotton and cropping, shearing, and wool.
The Fair Work Act 2009 has also recently been amended to include a definition of a “casual employee”.
The basic definition is that at the point of engagement the employer makes no firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work according to an agreed pattern of work for the employee.
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Brisbane sushi restaurant faces court
The Fair Work Ombudsman has commenced action against the operators of a Brisbane sushi restaurant, alleging over 30 employees were underpaid and that documents and records were falsified.
The FWO has commenced proceedings in the Federal Circuit Court against Delishesco Pty Ltd, which operates Moga Izakaya & Sushi, a sushi bar and restaurant based at Paddington in Brisbane. Also facing court is the company’s sole director Yinan Yang, who manages the restaurant.
The regulator alleges that Delishesco paid employees flat rates below minimum entitlements, resulting in 34 employees being underpaid a total of $75,716 under the Restaurant Industry Award 2010 and the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards between 1 December 2018 and 31 March 2019.
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Perth real estate agency in court
The Fair Work Ombudsman has commenced legal action in the Federal Circuit Court against the operators of a real estate and business brokering company in Perth.
Facing court are Darrell Crouch & Associates Pty Ltd, based in Joondanna, and the company’s managing director, Darrell Crouch.
The regulator investigated the company after a former employee, who had been employed as a property manager, lodged a request for assistance.
A Fair Work Inspector issued a Compliance Notice to Darrell Crouch & Associates Pty Ltd in January 2021 after forming a belief the employee had not been paid his entitlement to payment in lieu of notice when his employment with the company ended in 2019.