ABC triples Calombaris on underpayment fines

The most intriguing part of the ABC’s Fair Work settlement was the unexpectedly high $600,000 ‘contrition payment’.

George Calombaris has spoken on camera. Picture: ABC/7.30

The ABC was lumped in with the likes of George Calombaris and Qantas, after it was announced on Friday it had finally reached agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman to pay back current and former casual staff $11.9m to settle large-scale underpayment claims.

The most intriguing part of the settlement was the unexpectedly high $600,000 “contrition payment” forked out by Aunty to make up for the underpayment. In the scheme of big underpayment penalties, that was three times Calombaris’s $200,000 fine last July, and $200,000 up on Qantas’s $400,000 fine this year for a similar breach.

Ombudsman Sandra Parker said she “saw no justification in treating a public statutory company differently from any private sector company - all employers must comply with Australia’s workplace laws.”

The ABC’s “contrition payment”, she said was on the scale of court-imposed penalties, “but without the cost and delay of drawn out litigations”.

For its part, the ABC says its error was “unintentional”.

‘No more fat to cut’ ABC starts cutting muscle

In a much-reprinted speech to the Melbourne Press Club two years ago, the ABC’s news supremo Gaven Morris said there was “no more fat to cut” at the ABC.

That declaration is about to be put to the ultimate test. Diary hears this will be the week that ABC boss David Anderson finally announces his long-awaited five-year plan for the public broadcaster, delayed since late March because of the coronavirus.

But if there is indeed no more fat to cut, we’re about to find out which muscles get taken out.

Diary is reliably informed the cuts will be weighted across all divisions. Morris’s news and current affairs division set to cop its fair share of up to 60. But we’re told Michael Carrington’s entertainment and specialist division will also be hit hard.

Meanwhile, the other big unanswered question that remains is what services will be impacted by the cuts. One thing we keep hearing is talk of an announcement on future resources for lifestyle website ABC Life in the five-year plan.

Read Nick Tabakoff’s full Media Diary in the paper on Monday, and online.