The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) is on a rampage
against employers underpaying staff. In FY2010/2011 the FWO
commenced more than 50 underpayment prosecutions against employers,
large and small. Expect even more this year.
Among the casualties was Hungry Jack's. Even though it
took steps to rectify the underpayment by making back-payments to
staff in excess of the shortfall, the FWO persisted with the
prosecution in order to reinforce the duties of Hungry
Jack's as a large corporate citizen to comply with its
lawful obligations to staff. Hungry Jack's was slapped with
a $100,500 penalty. Now that's a whopper fine.
In another prosecution, a 7-Eleven franchisee was fined $150,000
for underpaying international students by paying flat rates for all
hours worked and requiring them to work unpaid "trial
periods". The small size of the employer, as a franchisee, was
taken into account. However, in this case, size didn't
matter as the franchisee had the benefit of regular
