Is My Company Doing It Right?

Hi. I want to ask a few questions about how the company I am working for handles a few things.

a. We recently hired a new manager. I saw two offer letters. One for the new manager. And one for his wife. The salary for the new manager is $80000. The salary for his wife is $30000. I see the new manager come to work. I don't see his wife come to work. It is not a work that can be done from home. This has been going on for a few weeks. I am guessing that he is getting $110000 in total pay but split the salary into two to avoid tax. Is that legal?

b. My company recent terminated two of my colleagues. One of them was terminated because of his performance. He worked for more than 6 months but he did not receive any notice of termination. Should it have been one week?

c. The other was terminated because he was watching YouTube and was caught on CCTV. He worked for more than 1 year but he only received one week notice of termination. Should it have been two weeks?

d. One of my colleagues resigned from the job because one of the manager abused her verbally. She could not stand it emotionally. The owner of the company knows about the incident. But he did not do anything to the manager. My colleague resigned after that. Shouldn't the owner do something about the incident?

e. The owner sold a product to another business at a discounted price in exchange of one of their products (jewellery) for his wife. Is that indirectly using company's money for a personal gain?

f. There are CCTVs everywhere except the washrooms. There is a CCTV in the pantry where employees eat lunch. The owner uses the CCTV to catch employees talking to one another. He terminated one person for talking to another employee during working hours. Is that harsh and unfair?

g. The company has been running for 17 years. There is no one case of an employee going on maternity leave. There was an employee who recently resigned because she was being pressured by the owner to do so. She was pregnant. Is that legal?

h. Another colleague wanted to leave 10 minutes earlier for a few days a week to get to the childcare to pick up his child on time. The management does not allow. They asked him to spend 10 minutes less during lunch.

What can I do?

Comments

  • +8

    Your company sure has a lot of issues.

    • and great quality CCTV to be able to see exactly onto someones computer screen…

  • Unless there is evidence, I don't think anything would happen to the company/owner. Maybe you could file a complaint with whoever the regulating body is.

  • +7

    What can I do?

    Leave

  • -2

    That's life. Unfair.

  • +5

    Quit. Get out of there and keep running.

    This place is not a career option.

    • +1

      Exactly. Start applying elsewhere

  • +4

    report to fair work australia.
    talk to your union.

  • This place is going to go down in a blaze of glory. It could be next week, it could be 5 years, but it will happen.

  • +4

    a. You are probably guessing correctly. This is common in small business where the income is split up by family members.. It's not really right though.

    b. If it was performance related, and there is evidence that the company has gone through a performance management process, then it's fair. The company needs to guard against unfair dismissal in this respect.

    c. If that is documented policy, then it's fair enough. You can be sacked with no notice for failing to comply to policy. However in an unfair dismissal situation, they will need to be able to prove that the employee was duly notified of the policy and penalty for non-compliance. Most people that I know who have been sacked have no notice.

    d. No, they don't have to. But they open themselves to claims of workplace bullying, or the like. Is "abused" where the manager has taken her to task for poor performance? Or something sinister like won't go out on a date with the manager, etc?

    e. I suspect the owner didn't pay fringe benefit tax, right?

    f. Workplace surveillance act applies and basically as long as you are notified of the cctv, then they can do it. In respect to the termination, unfair dismissal applies again - the boss will need to have covered themselves or will be opening themselves up for a claim.

    g. It's illegal to discriminate against a woman for being pregnant. If she collected evidence, she could sue the company. However my wife was working in a company once where there was a clear danger to pregnant women and felt it better to leave for safety. Boss was apologetic about it but nothing could really be done.

    h. This is not unreasonable. They could come 10 minutes earlier for shift and management would probably be OK.

    Summary: Everyone is advising you to leave. However if you're thick skinned, you could stay as it seems as if this company is ripe for an unfair dismissal claim.. And it could be you! lol

  • a) Illegal

    b + c) Refer to https://www.fairwork.gov.au/ending-employment/notice-and-fin… ; or you can call Fair Work Australia.

    d) As your colleague chose to resign and has already done so there's little room/need for recourse.

    e) This is probably not worth your wasting time/energy thinking about.

    f) http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/inforce/cda3e2c0-0fd3-6065…
    http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&sour…
    Re: termination - also refer to Fair Work.

    g) She should not have resigned, and instead sought out information & advice (The Internet, Unions, FWA, etc. etc.) It is illegal to discriminate against a pregnant woman, but good luck proving they have done so after she has voluntarily resigned.

    h) It seems perfectly reasonable to ask an employee who wants to leave early to make up the time by slightly shortening lunch.

  • +2

    Somehow it sounds like a university assignment! Or as nocure says, your company has a lot of issues.

  • I want to report to the authorities about this. Who can I report to?

    • You obviously need to call 13 00 6 555 06

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