Coronavirus: ‘Dodgy bosses’ warned over JobKeeper

Employers have been warned against forcing workers to pay a fee or hand over cash to access the JobKeeper scheme.

Workers have been reporting allegedly unlawful conduct by “dodgy bosses” to unions. Picture: iStock

Employers have been warned against forcing workers to pay a fee or hand over cash to access the JobKeeper scheme, as the Fair Work Commission reports a surge in unfair dismissal claims by workers sacked during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Workers have been reporting allegedly unlawful conduct by “dodgy bosses” to unions, including employer attempts to withhold a significant part of the $1500 a fortnight JobKeeper payment as an “administrative fee”, or seek to have a worker return part of the payment.

Complaints to the Victorian Trades Hall Council “JobScammer” website have also included allegations that employers are requiring workers to increase their hours in workplaces shut down by the pandemic, including gyms, cinemas and entertainment locations.

Oanh Tran, principal solicitor for the Young Workers Centre, said the workers were being asked to perform duties including cleaning and painting.

A Melbourne childcare centre told a worker to increase her hours, claiming it was an Australian Taxation Office requirement if she wanted the $1500 subsidy.

“The JobKeeper payment is not employer’s money; it is money to see workers through this health crisis,” Ms Tran said. “Employers are treating it as their own money. Workers don’t need to earn JobKeeper payment.

“Employers should not use the JobKeeper payment to run down workers leave entitlements and certainly should not try to keep any part of the JobKeeper payment for themselves.”

In updated advice on Friday, the Fair Work Ombudsman said employers cannot pay employees less than JobKeeper payment and “keep the difference”.

“Employers can’t ask their eligible employee to pay a fee or pay part of their wage (including in cash) to access the JobKeeper scheme,” the advice says.

Fair Work Commission president Iain Ross said on Friday the number of unfair dismissal applications received by the tribunal in April was 65 per cent higher compared to April 2019.

The commission has received 212 JobKeeper dispute applications, with about 25 per cent within its jurisdiction. The remaining appeared to raise jurisdictional issues.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus on Friday renewed the union movement’s call for paid pandemic leave.

“Working people want to get back to normal as soon as it’s safe to do so, but as we start looking at plans to get people back to work, we need to ensure that the best possible protections are in place for all working people to prevent a second wave of infection – this means appropriate social distancing and hygiene,” she said.

“We need to change our WHS regulations to ensure that the best possible preventative measures, in this case social distancing and hygiene, are in place in each and every workplace, we need to create an obligation for compulsory reporting of any new cases by employers, and we need pandemic leave for all workers so that everyone can go and get tested if they have symptoms, and stay away from work if they get sick.”