This article is part of CAP Labour’s original research series that briefly explores issues in Australian and international labour law. In this article, ANU law student Maxine Viertmann looks at the use of restraint of trade clauses in employement contracts, … Read the rest
Posts Tagged with Australian Labour Law
Published
✎ Whistle blower Protection: Internal Processes? Eternal Problems
Author: Maxine Viertmann
Whistleblowing is an important mechanism that keeps corporations accountable to rules of corporate governance and has in many cases shined a light on major corporate wrongdoing. Yet, many instances of corporate whistleblowing have been met with vicious … Read the rest
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7-Eleven franchise penalised $150,000
In a further development in the 7-Eleven saga, another franchise has been penalised by the Federal Court for underpaying its workers. The case is the fifth 7-Eleven investigation to be decided in court, with three pending.
In what seems a … Read the rest
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Workers back-paid Christmas entitlements, and is the Fair Work Ombudsman doing enough?
Over 250 workers have been back-paid their Christmas Day entitlements after an operator in Melbourne ‘inadvertently’ underpaying them over $21,000.
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, the restaurant operator ‘mistakenly believed it could declare Christmas Day a “shut-down”, rather than … Read the rest
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Brisbane 7-Eleven Franchisee fined a record $400,000 for underpaying staff
The Federal Circuit Court, in proceeding commenced by the Fair Work Ombudsman, has handed down a record penalty of more than $400,000 against the operators of a 7-Eleven store which, according to the Ombudsman, ‘systematically exploited its workers’. Court proceeding … Read the rest
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Bicycle Courier Rights in the UK
Most people that have studied Australian labour law will remember the case of bicycle couriers trying to establish they were employees in Hollis v Vabu (2001) 207 CLR 21. The case is prolific for articulating the fundamental indicia to … Read the rest
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The 7-Eleven Saga Continues
A little over a week since the Federal Court’s finding of underpayment by 7-Eleven for two workers (read more about the case here), 7-Eleven has ended its independent compensation panel into underpayment of workers. The company will now use … Read the rest
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Migrant Workers and the proposed ‘Backpacker Tax’
The Australian Government’s 2016 Budget introduced a number of proposed changes to the labour regulatory framework. Among these is a new 32.5% tax on earnings by short-term migrant workers in the Seasonal Worker Program (referred to altogether as ‘backpackers’).
Labour … Read the rest
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Calls for Tougher Work Safety Law in the ACT
On Monday this week, ACT prosecutors dropped a high profile case against a multinational company and an engineer, implicated in the death of construction worker Ben Cantanzariti on a worksite in the Kingston Foreshore in 2012. A concrete pump had … Read the rest
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Federal Court imposes record fine on 7-Eleven franchisee for underpayment of employees
The Federal Court yesterday handed down the largest fine yet applied for the underpayment of employees, ordering that a 7-Eleven franchisee pay a total of $214,000 for underpaying two workers.
Judge Justin Smith justified the record fine by stating that … Read the rest