In 2020-21, the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered $148+mil for 69,735 underpaid workers - a new all-time high. These recoveries were 20% higher than those recorded in 2019-20 and nearly five times as much as those recorded in 2017-18.

Sandra Parker, the Fair Work Ombudsman, said that large corporate entities have continued to pose a challenge for the agency in recent months. "We continue to see some of Australia's biggest businesses come forward to self-disclose workplace law breaches, and our investigations have revealed that thousands of people have been underpaid over many years.

To address this

"All employers, especially big corporate organisations, must place a higher premium on investing in payroll and workplace relations systems and skills to guarantee that workers are paid their legal rights."

In 2020-21, the FWO entered into 19 Enforceable Undertakings with businesses, 17 of which concerned self-reported non-compliance from large employers. Following thorough investigations and Enforceable Undertakings negotiated with the FWOs, more than $81.7 million was repaid. During the year, the workplace regulator also obtained an agreement In 2020-21, there were 76 new litigations, 41 per cent more than the previous year.

 In matters involving migrant workers who can be vulnerable to workplace exploitation, the agency has collected more than $2 million in court-ordered penalties.

The FWO used enforcement measures more frequently in FY 2020-21, issuing 2,025 Compliance Notices and resulting in over $16.5 million in unpaid salaries and entitlements recoveries. Fair Work Inspectors also issued 513 Infringement Notices (total fines of over $518,000) last financial year.

Last financial year,COVID-19 is having an enormous influence on Australian companies and supporting them through the epidemic was the FWO's main objective in 2020-21, according to Ms Parker.

"We concentrated on assisting workers who were particularly vulnerable, small firms and sectors that had been severely impacted," Parker said.

The FWO's Coronavirus hotline received more than 46,000 calls from businesses and individuals, with online content dedicated to the virus receiving more than 3.2 million page views.

With RatesCalc we guarantee the accuracy of our data ensuring that this area is one less thing you need to worry about- so you can – Get on with business !