I do not recall worker underpayments ever having been an
election issue before, or even rating a policy announcement but
this year, under the media spotlight ignited by 7-Eleven, this
issue is now very much on the agenda. This is part of a trajectory
of heightened enforcement activity and a broader view of who might
be liable for pay infringements.
Employers not complying with award minimum wages, or trying to
avoid awards by sham contracting, is not a new issue. In the old
days, pre-Workchoices in 2006, the Department of Industrial
Relations in each state had inspectors to investigate and prosecute
underpayments but it was pretty low key, and had not been given a
shake up for a long time. With Workchoices and the Fair Work Act,
and the shift of responsibility to the Federal Government, came a
much higher-profile regulator, in the form of the Fair Work
Ombudsman (FWO) which had a more sophisticated approach to
enforcement (drawing on the likes of the ACCC), including
