WORKPLACE RELATIONS ACT 1996 - SECT 719 Imposition and recovery of penalties

This legislation has been repealed.

WORKPLACE RELATIONS ACT 1996 - SECT 719

             (1)  An eligible court may impose a penalty in accordance with this Division on a person if:

                     (a)  the person is bound by an applicable provision; and

                     (b)  the person breaches the provision.

             (2)  Subject to subsection (3), where:

                     (a)  2 or more breaches of an applicable provision are committed by the same person; and

                     (b)  the breaches arose out of a course of conduct by the person;

the breaches shall, for the purposes of this section, be taken to constitute a single breach of the term.

             (3)  Subsection (2) does not apply to a breach of an applicable provision that is committed by a person after an eligible court has imposed a penalty on the person for an earlier breach of the provision.

             (4)  The maximum penalty that may be imposed under subsection (1) for a breach of an applicable provision is:

                     (a)  60 penalty units for an individual; or

                     (b)  300 penalty units for a body corporate.

             (5)  If, in a proceeding under this section in relation to an ITEA, it appears to the eligible court that a party to the ITEA has suffered loss or damage as a result of a breach of the ITEA by the other party, the court may order the other party to pay the amount of the loss or damage to the first‑mentioned party.

             (6)  Where, in a proceeding against an employer under this section, it appears to the eligible court that an employee of the employer has not been paid an amount that the employer was required to pay under an applicable provision (except a term of an ITEA), the court may order the employer to pay to the employee the amount of the underpayment.

             (7)  Where, in a proceeding against an employer under this section, it appears to the eligible court that the employer has not paid an amount to a superannuation fund that the employer was required, under an applicable provision (except a term of an ITEA), to pay on behalf of a person, the court may order the employer to make a payment to or in respect of that person for the purpose of restoring the person, as far as practicable, to the position that the person would have been in had the employer not failed to pay the amount to the superannuation fund.

             (8)  Without limiting the generality of subsection (7), the eligible court may order that the employer pay to the superannuation fund referred to in subsection (7), or another superannuation fund, an amount equal to the amount (in this subsection called the unpaid amount ) that the employer failed to pay together with such additional amount as, in the opinion of the court, represents the return that would have accrued in respect of the unpaid amount had it been duly paid by the employer.

             (9)  An order must not be made under subsection (6) or (7) in relation to so much of an underpayment as relates to any period more than 6 years before the commencement of the proceeding.

           (10)  A proceeding under this section in relation to a breach of an applicable provision must be commenced not later than 6 years after the commission of the breach.