Confirms that employer ignorance or confusion about a worker's employment status, particularly where arising from failure to make proper and ongoing inquiries, will attract very little mitigating weight in penalty assessment. Practitioners advising small business employers should note that late admissions (even if obviating trial) and corrective action lacking systemic safeguards will receive only modest penalty discounts, and that record-keeping and payslip contraventions may attract higher penalties than substantive underpayment contraventions due to their role in enabling detection of non-compliance.
The full text is available to signed-in members.