were in any way, by act or omission, directly or indirectly, knowingly concerned in or party to the contravention. The FWO frequently uses section 550 to commence court proceedings against alleged to contraventions. Most commonly, accessories are individuals involved in ‘accessories’ running the employing entity that committed the contravention (the ‘primary contravenor’). This includes company directors, company officers, and—albeit less commonly—human resources officers or professional advisors. Section 550 is a critical tool for us to use to bring culpable individuals to account, especially in circumstances where the employing entity has been deregistered or liquidated, as often occurs during our investigations or after we have commenced court proceedings. Accessories can also be other businesses in a position of power within the same supply chain as the employing entity, such as a head contractor or franchisor. We have used section 550 to bring parties other than the direct employer to account. For example, a company receiving the benefit of labour provided by contractors, when the price paid under the contract was insufficient to pay worker wages. In one such case, the matters of FWO v Al Hilfi (SAD 27/2012) and FWO v Al Basry (SAD 108/2012) concerned a trolley collecting supply chain: Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd sat at the top of the supply chain in which the contract price paid was not sufficient to cover minimum entitlements and workers’ workers were significantly underpaid. Mr Ahmad Al Hilfi and Mr Ayam Al Basry sat at the bottom of the supply chain as the employing entity. Mr Nidal Albarouki and Mr Clency Ferriere, respectively the former owner and general manager of the trolley collecting companies Starlink International Group Pty Ltd and Starlink Operations Group Pty Ltd (in liquidation), sat in the middle of the chain as the intermediary. In this matter, we obtained penalties of $94 050 against each of Mr Albarouki and Mr Ferriere in respect of their involvement in the underpayments. Coles Supermarkets also entered into an Enforceable Undertaking with us, where it admitted it had an and ‘ethical moral for the conduct of all persons involved in its business. This was the first responsibility’ time a major supermarket chain had accepted responsibility for compliance with workplace laws in its supply chain.
were in any way, by act or omission, directly or indirectly, knowingly concerned in or party to the contravention. The FWO frequently uses section 550 to commence court proceedings against alleged ‘accessories’ to contraventions. Most commonly, accessories are individuals involved in running the employing entity that committed the contravention (the ‘primary contravenor’). This includes company directors, company officers, and—albeit less commonly—human resources officers or professional advisors. Section 550 is a critical tool for us to use to bring culpable individuals to account, especially in circumstances where the employing entity has been deregistered or liquidated, as often occurs during our investigations or after we have commenced court proceedings. Accessories can also be other businesses in a position of power within the same supply chain as the employing entity, such as a head contractor or franchisor. We have used section 550 to bring parties other than the direct employer to account. For example, a company receiving the benefit of labour provided by contractors, when the price paid under the contract was insufficient to pay worker wages. In one such case, the matters of FWO v Al Hilfi (SAD 27/2012) and FWO v Al Basry (SAD 108/2012) concerned a trolley collecting supply chain: Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd sat at the top of the supply chain in which the contract price paid was not sufficient to cover workers’ minimum entitlements and workers were significantly underpaid. Mr Ahmad Al Hilfi and Mr Ayam Al Basry sat at the bottom of the supply chain as the employing entity. Mr Nidal Albarouki and Mr Clency Ferriere, respectively the former owner and general manager of the trolley collecting companies Starlink International Group Pty Ltd and Starlink Operations Group Pty Ltd (in liquidation), sat in the middle of the chain as the intermediary. In this matter, we obtained penalties of $94 050 against each of Mr Albarouki and Mr Ferriere in respect of their involvement in the underpayments. Coles Supermarkets also entered into an Enforceable Undertaking with us, where it admitted it had an ‘ethical and moral responsibility’ for the conduct of all persons involved in its business. This was the first time a major supermarket chain had accepted responsibility for compliance with workplace laws in its supply chain.
fair_work_ombudsman_report_into_7-eleven.docx