State of Play 2019: the Australian workplace

Financial Review, 17 July 2019:

The head of a large mortgage brokering company is facing court for allegedly paying his Filipino nanny just $2 an hour for working more than 100 hours a week.

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has accused Tony Lam, managing director of Award Mortage Solutions, of underpaying the worker $155,178 for 12 months of domestic and caring work at his luxury penthouse apartment in Sydney.

The Federal Court action is set to be a significant test of whether nannies and domestic workers are covered by modern awards, which include overtime and penalty rates for morning, evening and weekend work.

The "scale of the alleged underpayments and the unreasonable work hours are concerning", said ombudsman Sandra Parker.

“We allege the worker in this case was vulnerable to exploitation given she was new to Australia, resided with Mr Lam and his family and did not know what her workplace rights were," she said......

ABC News, 18 July 2019:

An Adelaide construction site supervisor who doused an apprentice in flammable liquid and set his clothes on fire has pleaded guilty to breaching the Work Health and Safety Act.

Key points:

Tad-Mar Electrical supervisors Luke Daniel Chenoweth and Jeffrey Mark Rowe are being prosecuted by SafeWork SA

The tribunal was told the victim could have suffered second-degree burns

Chenoweth will be sentenced at a later date, Rowe was fined $12,000

Tad-Mar Electrical employee Luke Daniel Chenoweth and fellow supervisor Jeffrey Mark Rowe were prosecuted by SafeWork SA over the incident at a worksite in Woodville in April 2017.

Prosecutor Laura Willows told the South Australian Employment Tribunal (SAET) that Chenoweth squirted flammable liquid onto the boot of a 19-year-old apprentice — who the ABC has chosen not to name.

"He let the flames on his boot go out and he didn't say anything, he just wanted to get away from Chenoweth," she said.

"Chenoweth followed him and squirted some more liquid onto the crotch area of the complainant.

"It was at this point the complainant became particularly scared … so he ran away."

However, Ms Willows said the two supervisors followed the apprentice and both squirted more lighter fluid on the young worker's shirt and ignited it.

"[The apprentice] felt intense heat instantly and he was pulling his shirt away from his skin and waving his arms to try and put the flames out," she said.

"He could smell burnt hair and he was worried he had been seriously burnt."

'The apprentice could have suffered second-degree burns'

The court heard the apprentice would have suffered second-degree burns if his shirt was left on his body for another 20 seconds.

Ms Willows told the court the apprentice was subjected to ongoing bullying in the lead-up to the incident.

She said the apprentice had previously been tied to a ladder with duct tape, had his arms and face covered with silicon and permanent marker and had been locked in a shipping container.

The court heard Chenoweth had also failed to ensure that the apprentice received medical assessment for an electric shock and subjected him to frequent verbal abuse.

"The defendant was in a position of authority on the building site being supervisor and the victim was an apprentice," Ms Willows said.....

George Colombaris
Photograph, The Age, 18 July 2019

Australian Government Fairwork Ombudsman's Court-Enforceable Undertaking with the MADE Establishment Pty Ltd group of companies, excerpt from public apology template, July 2019:

In early 2017, following a change in ownership and management, MAdE Establishment conducted a review of its records and identified circumstances where it had failed to correctly pay many of its employees. MAdE Establishment self-reported this to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) which subsequently commenced an investigation into Jimmy Grants and the MAdE Establishment group of companies, being the Hellenic Republic, Press Club and Gazi restaurants.

Since first identifying the underpayment issues, the MAdE Establishment group has back-paid 515 current or former employees $7.83m.This amount comprised underpayments for the admitted contraventions listed below. In some cases, workers were incorrectly classified. Record-keeping laws relating to time records for some annualised salary employees were not adhered to, contributing to underpayments.

The FWO also found underpayments of about $16,000 for 9 employees at two Jimmy Grants stores. Jimmy Grants (Emporium) and Jimmy Grants (Fitzroy) incorrectly classified some workers and for some employees the wrong award was applied, resulting in underpayments of base rates for ordinary hours and a range of penalty rates......

George Calombaris, founding shareholder (shareholder 2008-current, director 2008-2018)

Radek Sali, Director of MAdE Establishment (director 20 December, 2016-current, shareholder 20 December, 2016 - current)

Adam Gregory, Director of MAdE Establishment (director 26 April, 2017-current, shareholder 28 August, 2017 -current)