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Kalgoorlie and Townsville in FWO’s sights

Fair Work inspectors will audit companies out west and focus on casuals and record keeping practices in Queensland

October 9, 2013

Businesses in Western Australia and Queensland will be the focus of the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) this month as part of efforts to improve compliance with workplace laws.

From October 15, inspectors will visit four businesses in Kalgoorlie that were found to have underpaid employees over the past two years. The visits will check to see if the companies are meeting their obligations.

The FWO says the businesses will be selected at random. Inspectors will also visit a further three businesses without prior breaches, selected at random, to conduct pay slip and record-keeping checks.

Inspectors will be available to answer questions about pay, conditions and other aspects of workplace laws on October 16 between 8.30am and 5pm at the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Business Development Centre.

Information on a range of topics including wages, flexible work arrangements, leave entitlements, workplace discrimination, hours of work and other entitlements will be available.

The FWO will then turn its attention to other side of the country in late October with a new campaign in Townsville to make sure employers are maintaining appropriate records and providing employees with pay slips.

Inspectors will conduct face-to-face visits with about 100 randomly selected employers, with a focus on the entitlements of casual workers in light of persistent complaints about casual employees being unaware of the full terms of their employment.

Some of the matters inspectors will focus on include ensuring employers are providing minimum shift hours and that sufficiently detailed pay slips are being provided to workers.

“We continue to see employers failing to keep correct records and issue pay slips that contain all the necessary information. Failure to issue pay slips with sufficient information denies an employee the opportunity to check that they are being paid correctly,” inspector Natalia James says.

“A key role of the Fair Work Ombudsman is to work with employers to help them understand and meet their obligations, which is what we’ll be doing throughout this campaign. Our inspectors will work with Townsville employers to voluntarily rectify issues and put processes in place to ensure they get it right in the future.”

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