Employers say a recommendation to the Albanese government that businesses should pay workers’ costs in successful underpayment claims will lead to an increase in ‘go-away money’ and pressure on small businesses to capitulate to questionable claims.

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt on Thursday released a departmental review into the Federal Circuit Court’s fast-tracked small-claims jurisdiction for underpayments that recommended the government remove the historic costs shield in the cases – but only for employers.