Media releases

The Fair Work Ombudsman is seeking to educate employees and business on the myths that are contributing to a concerning number of young workers being underpaid around Australia.

The operators of an Australian-themed retail outlet in Melbourne have been penalised more than $120,000 for underpaying three shop assistants more than $90,000 over five years.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured almost $30,000 for five underpaid employees of a NSW-based security services company.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has again warned that paying overseas workers low, flat rates is unlawful after a Western Sydney homewares retailer was caught paying a Chinese employee just $12 an hour.

Record penalties of $532 000 have been ordered in a case involving the exploitation of five workers at a café in regional NSW.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s national Inquiry into exploitation of overseas workers on the Australian harvest trail has led to the Agency launching legal action against a Queensland labour-hire operator for allegedly flouting record-keeping laws.

A Judge has imposed more than $200,000 in penalties and issued a stinging rebuke to two migrant Asian business operators in Brisbane for their “extremely serious” conduct in exploiting five workers from a similar cultural background.

The operator of the Happytel mobile phone accessories chain has agreed to revamp its workplace practices after the Fair Work Ombudsman found that two overseas workers at outlets in Adelaide were underpaid a total of more than $13,000.

A Melbourne fine dining restaurant is overhauling its workplace practices after a Fair Work Ombudsman investigation found it had underpaid six overseas workers more than $35,000.

A Gold Coast Japanese restaurant has been found to have underpaid more than $24,000 to 10 workers after paying flat rates and deducting from wages of some workers who were visa holders.