Fair Work compliance 2019-20

In a 3 June 2019 address, Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker announced the regulator’s priorities for the year ahead, including a stronger approach to enforcement.

In 2019-20, the priority industries or issues the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) will focus on are:

• Fast food, restaurants and cafes
• Horticulture and the harvest trail
• Supply chain risks
• Franchisors
• Sham contracting

The intent to focus the agency’s work around compliance and enforcement follows a recent audit of more than 1,385 businesses in regional Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria which found “unacceptable” levels of compliance with workplace laws.

The audit revealed more than one in five (22%) employers failed to pay their employees correctly, with 48% admitting they were unaware of their workplace law obligations and 20% stating they misinterpreted award requirements.

The most common breaches were underpayment of minimum hourly rates (41%), failure to provide proper payslips (30%), failure to pay penalty rates correctly (10%), failure to pay correct overtime (7%) and issues with record keeping (6%).

The findings are the latest indication a sizeable proportion of business owners are either skirting their obligations as employers or are unaware of their responsibilities.

“We will use our new powers and publicly name employers who break the law to get the message out that it is not acceptable to underpay workers or deprive them of their entitlements. Employers who do this will get caught”, Ms Parker said. Read the media release on the FWO compliance and enforcement priorities here.

Confident you’re across everything for Fair Work compliance? Good work…now you can focus on the things that are important to you. Not sure? Give Bare Bones Consulting a call or contact us here…we can show you what you need to know so if you get that FWO knock on the door you only have to worry that your coffee cups are clean.