Fair Work Ombudsman promotes dob-in service

Mathew Dunckley
May 26, 2016
The Age
The employment watchdog has urged workers and companies to take advantage of a new anonymous tip-off service to dob in businesses that rip off their staff.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James will use a speech on Friday to make a plea for greater assistance from the community in reining in wage fraud in the wake of celebrated cases such as 7-Eleven and Baiada.
Of course we won’t be storming into a business on the basis of one anonymous tip off.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James
“Compliance with workplace laws isn’t just my business, it’s everyone’s business – when workers get ripped off, everyone is affected,” she will say in the speech, a copy of which was provided to Fairfax Media.
“I’ve had enough of hearing about workers getting paid $10 an hour, so I am putting the call out to the whole community – workers, consumers, concerned citizens, businesses, everyone – to help us build a culture of compliance.
“If you suspect a business is exploiting its workers, or if something doesn’t seem right, we want you to tell us – we want to know.”
The online tipoff service (accessed here) will allow members of the public to confidentially alert the Ombudsman to issues and was established in response to increased requests for anonymity.
“If someone suspects something isn’t right, but is unable or unwilling to get directly involved in resolving the issue, they can tell us about it using this new form,” Ms James said.
Ms James said she expected to hear from businesses who suspected their competitors were not playing by the rules.
“Businesses that want to do the right thing by their workers, and they are the majority in my experience, can’t compete with those who are willing to give themselves a competitive edge by undercutting labour costs,” she said.
“Of course we won’t be storming into a business on the basis of one anonymous tip off – we are looking for trends and patterns here.”
Although still in its early stages the site had already received more than 500 tip-offs, three-quarters of them raising issues about wage rates.
The role of the Fair Work Ombudsman is shaping as a key election battleground with the Coalition pledging to boost is funding, powers and penalties at its disposal.
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