Wage theft is endemic: report

20 Apr '18

Wage theft is endemic: report

April 20, 2018

A landmark study has found wage theft is endemic across Australia with a quarter of international students and a third of backpackers earning $12 or less per hour, around half the legal minimum wage. The new report presents the most comprehensive Australian research conducted into the systemic underpayment of international […]

19 Oct '17

Coffee chain in hot water over false affadavit

October 19, 2017

Hall of Shame, Stop Wage Theft

Coffee chain Zarraffa’s appears to be in hot water as one of its franchisees has signed a false affidavit to have an agreement approved by the Fair Work Commission (FWC). Before an agreement can be approved, the FWC must be satisfied of a number of matters including that the agreement […]

25 Sep '17

Just how much are workers being ripped off?

September 25, 2017

Stop Wage Theft

The short exercise of adding up the wage theft reported to media by the Fair Work Ombudsman over just six months of 2017 reaches an eye-watering $3.55 million* from the pockets of our lowest-paid workers. It’s our lowest-paid and most vulnerable workers being fleeced by their bosses. Hospitality workers, cleaners, […]

18 Sep '17

Attacks on wages costing workers billions

September 18, 2017

Not Nice News, Stop Wage Theft

A new union-commissioned report – The Consequences of Wage Suppression for Australia’s Superannuation System – shows that the impact of wage theft grows to billions of dollars over time. The report shows that downward pressure on wages caused by wage theft, wage freezes, reduced penalty rates and cancelled enterprise agreements […]

5 Sep '17

Hall of Shame – Superannuation Theft

September 5, 2017

Hall of Shame

Australian workers have lost out on more than $17 billion in superannuation payments since 2009 from shonky operators and businesses now at the centre of tax office and government probes. After a lifetime of work, all Australians deserve a comfortable retirement. For most people their superannuation will play an important […]

5 Sep '17

Hall of Shame – Capalaba Sports Club

September 5, 2017

Hall of Shame, Stop Wage Theft

The Capalaba Sports Club provides an example of how an employer can apply the existing Better Off Over-all Test to one set of circumstances for the purpose of passing the test and then apply the resulting agreement to a completely different set of circumstances.

5 Sep '17

Hall of Shame — Dominos pizza

September 5, 2017

Hall of Shame, Stop Wage Theft

Dominos is another recent example of a franchise operation in which underpayment is rife.

5 Sep '17

Hall of Shame — 7-Eleven

September 5, 2017

Hall of Shame, Stop Wage Theft

7 Eleven brought large scale non-compliance to national attention with Fair Work Ombudsman investigation that started in 2014. Not only was there evidence of underpayments but fraudulent records were kept by the franchisees.

27 Aug '17

Australia is a nation of working carers, new study finds

August 27, 2017

news, we won't wait``

Queensland Unions are joining an Australia-wide campaign to improve the lives of employees juggling work with caring and parenting responsibilities. The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) today released survey results showing 85 per cent of working Australians also have significant family caring and/or parenting responsibilities. Queensland Unions are already […]

15 May '17

Penalty rate cuts to hurt thousands of families in regional Queensland

May 15, 2017

campaigns, media, news, release, save our weekend

Workers in regional Queensland will lose almost $150 million a year in disposable income a year due the Turnbull Government’s decision to support cutting penalty rates – according to new analysis by the McKell Institute released today.