Spotlight on health care & social assistance

Australia’s growing health care and social assistance industry is to be the focus of a new national campaign by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Businessman fined $42k over underpayments

A labour-hire operator in Melbourne who has been the subject of a “litany of complaints” has been fined $42,840 after deliberately underpaying two workers.

Taiwanese backpacker short-changed $21,000

A fast-food restaurant in the Melbourne CBD underpaid a Taiwanese backpacker almost $21,000 in just five months, a Fair Work Ombudsman investigation has found.

Service station operators fined for underpaying overseas workers $111,000

The operators of a Melbourne service station have been fined more than $92,000 for underpaying two Indian workers as little as $10 an hour.

Japanese restaurant short-changed Korean visa-holder $6000 in just five months

A Korean visa-holder employed at a Japanese restaurant in Sydney was paid a flat rate of just $16.50 an hour, an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman has revealed.

Deadline looms for workers at Baiada sites

The Fair Work Ombudsman is urging workers who believe they may have been underpaid by labour hire contractors for work at Baiada poultry processing plants this year to lodge their claims before a December 31 deadline.

Fair Work Ombudsman successful in High Court appeal on sham contracting matter

The High Court has unanimously upheld an appeal from the Fair Work Ombudsman in relation to a sham contracting matter affecting workers at a Perth accommodation facility.

Overseas worker recruited as restaurant manager, but employed as chef and underpaid $45,000

An employee recruited from Malaysia to work as a restaurant manager in regional Queensland was employed as a cook and short-changed more than $45,000 in a little over a year.

Business unaware of minimum pay rates short-changed Korean backpackers $16k

The operator of a cleaning business at Cairns in Far North Queensland who underpaid two overseas backpackers more than $16,000 says he was unaware of Australia’s minimum wage rates.

Dentist allegedly underpaid $66 000

An international student studying dentistry in Melbourne was allegedly underpaid tens of thousands of dollars after being recruited by a dental clinic in the CBD.