International Students and Work Ombudsman †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the International Students and Work Ombudsman. Answer: Introduction: The Fair Work Ombudsman, which is also known as the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman is a statutory agency belonging to the Government of Australia which independently serves as the primary place for free advice and other information in relation to the system of Australian National workplace relations. The office of the Fair Work Ombudsman also indulges in ensuring compliance with contemporary legal provisions for workplace as well as investigating complaint made by the employees. The office of the Fair Work Ombudsman directly reports to the minister for employment. The office has been created through the provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009. The office of FWO works along with fair work Australia to accomplish the objective of ensuring the services provided by them are relevant, timely, accessible and integrated to all Australians (Welcome to the Fair Work Ombudsman website, 2018). The functions of the office of FWO are achieved through offering to provide people timely and accurate information in relation to the Australian Workplace relation system. It also indulges in raising awareness among the people in Australia by providing them education in relation to rights and obligations and fair work practices. The FWO investigates suspected contraventions in relation to workplace laws, agreements and awards or complaints made by the employees. The FWO indulges in the process of litigation for the purpose of enforcing workplace laws and restrict people from doing anything wrong to the community. The FWO also has the purpose of building effective and strong relationships with unions, industry and other stakeholders (Farbenblum Berg, 2017). The functions of the office of FWO are provided through the provisions of the FWA 2009 and include activities like providing Education advice, Audits Campaigns and handling complaints. The office of FWO offers to provide employees and employers free advice and information in relation to working conditions, pay, workplace rights and obligation which have been created under the national workplace relations system. The FWO through its website provides information and guidance materials through the use of templates, best practices guides and fact sheets. A suit of online tools have also been developed by the FWO for public use which includes Pay Check Plus, Trainee Wage Calculator and leave calculator. The Fair Work Infoline for workplace is also operated by the FWO towards handling queries (Allen, 2015). The FWO also provides services in relation to Audit Campaigns and indulges in conducting targeted audits and campaigns. Through such campaigns the FWO seeks to provide information to the employers of a particular industry about their duties and obligation and also ensure that their compliance with commonwealth workplace laws is maintained. These campaigns may be of a national, regional or state based nature (Ombudsman, 2017). In addition to the above discussed functions the FWO also handles complaints from workplaces. Individuals who are involved with the Australian workplace system have the right raise issues before the FWO in relation to working conditions, underpayment of wages, discrimination in workplace and other workplace rights. The FWO has the duty to take a decision in relation to the course of action which would be best suited to resolve the complaint. These decisions include referring the matter to somewhere else if it is not within the scope of their jurisdiction. It may take the decision that the workplace laws have not been violated in the context of the complaint. It can also decide that the dispute can be resolved through the process of mediation. If the FWO is convinced that the problem is gross then it may decide to conduct a formal investigation or an audit in relation to the complaint. In relation to the investigation the FWO analyzes documents and work place records in order to deter mine whether compliance with commonwealth workplace laws has been ensured. The investigation is conducted by the FWO in a number of stages. However whether the latter stages are required or not is decided by the officer based on what findings he or she makes in relation to the former stage. The three stages in which the investigation takes place include Assisted Voluntary Resolution, Full Investigation and compliance and finally Enforcement. The FWO has a strict stance when it comes to unfair dismissal, discrimination, Sham contracting and exploitation of employees. One of the recent cases which have dealt with is the case of Mt Arthur Coal Pty Ltd v Jodie Goodall [2016] FWCFB 5492. The case was in relation to unfair dismissal. In this case the employee had been dismissed for the purpose of violating the code of conduct of the organization which provided for no use of slangs. In this case the FWC was able to get the decision in favour of the employee through which the employee had been reinstated. However it has been argued by Kramar (2014) that the FWO is making it very difficult for the businesses to functions effectively. One of the primary examples in support of this argument is the case of Croft v Smarter Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd [2016] FWC 6859. In this case although the employee was dismissed for the purpose of downloading porn during office hours, defendant had to prove before the court that indulging in such ac tions should account to dismissal. The FWO has been able to enforce compliance with workplace laws and obtain penalties for those who do not comply with the laws. One of such examples is the case of Fair Work Ombudsman v WXZ Enterprises Pty Ltd Ors [2018] FCCA 616. In the case the defendant had been found liable to make contraventions of section 550 of the FWA 2009 and thus had been imposed with financial penalties. Another case which has been successfully litigated by the FWO is the case of Fair Work Ombudsman v Siner Enterprises Pty Ltd Anor (No.2) [2018] FCCA 589. In this case the FWO had been able to obtain a total penalty of $208,890.00 from the defendants for adverse action, underpayments and not complying with record keeping provisions. The FWO also obtained financial penalties worth $35,000.00 against Phua and Foo Pty Ltd in relation to underpayments in the case of Fair Work Ombudsman v Phua Foo Pty Ltd [2018] FCA 137. It has been stated by Bray and Waring (2017) that the FWO has been very effective towards the achievement of its purpose and discharging in functions. The demand for the services of the FWO has constantly remained high since it has been introduced. The FWO has witnessed over 6.6 million visits to its official website, has handled 26000 complaints in relation to workplace and has been directed with almost one million calls. In the primary context the feedback in relation to the services provided by the FWO has been largely positive in nature. This is indicated through the substantial increase in the number of individuals who use the website and the low number of requests in relation to the review of outcome or handling of the workplace complaints. However a few significant services provided by the FWO have not been timely and consistent. In the light of the lengthy waiting and calling time one third of the calls which are directed to the Fair Work Infoline had been abandoned. In addit ion the complain finalization time has also not been consistent as only 70% of the workplace complaints had been resolved in a 90 day period as compared to the target of 89%. The administration by FWO in relation the compliance and education services provided through the FWA 2009 has also been commendable. However there is still scope of improvement in relation to the use of information and analysis in relation the further development of service delivery strategies. A good range of well developed services have been established by the FWO for the purpose of ensuring workplace law compliance. The FWOs program delivery is under pinned by appropriate guidance materials and training and the agency has also been able develop reporting mechanisms and monitoring. Thus in the light of the above evidence it can be stated that the FWO is operating effectively towards achieving its purpose. The FWO is valued by the community in relation to supporting complaints as well as inclusive and productive Australian Workplace. It has a considerable significance in the Australian Workplace Relation system (Hardy, Howe Cooney, 2013). This is because it provides practical workplace relation assistance and advice to the community. It indulges in promoting a culture of compliance by providing the employers and the employees the required support and information for making appropriate and legal choices within the workplace. The FWO is impartial, responsive and professional and further focuses on enforcement and compliance efforts where serious breach has been identified and where it can deliver greatest impacts and benefits (Allen, 2015). The primary vision of the FWO is that they are valued by the community in relation to supporting complaints as well as inclusive and productive Australian Workplace. The FWO provides practical advice which is easy to use, understand and access. The p roductivity is enhanced by thus as the time taken to get the basics rights are reduced. The FWO also indulges in providing advice in relation to the creation of an inclusive workplace. The advice is based upon fairness, diversity, respect and dignity. Where the workplace is informed and inclusive it automatically becomes more productive as the barriers to participation are removed and it complies with the existing workplace laws. This is done by the FWO by advising on compliance and support which can be obtained by businesses from the FWO, providing information which supports correct decision making, providing easy and quick self service resources and solutions and providing tools which help implement best practices in the workplace (Reilly et al., 2017). The FWOs significance is also increased as it encourages and empowers employers and employees to resolve their issues in the workplace thereby reducing the burden of the litigation. This is done by the FWO by initiating impartial s ervices for dispute resolution, participating in the problem before it s escalated, using the process of dispute resolution, advising the employer and the employees to control workplace issues themselves and expanding the range of dispute resolution tools and resources. The FWO is also highly considered important in the workplace relation system as it strives to build a culture of working in accordance with workplace laws. This is done by conveying the benefits of compliance of laws, emphasizing on compliance in areas where it is going to have the greatest impacts such as those industries where breach of laws are common (Regan Lee, 2015). The FWO works with stakeholders to identify solutions for workplace issues and an opportunity or collaboration. Thus is done by the FWO through creating relationships with the community and the stakeholders in the fundamentals of respect and trust. The FWO also works with other agencies of the government for enhancing services to be provided to the community and decreasing regulatory burden (Hardy Howe, 2013). The aim of the FWO is to be a capable, responsive, high performing agency which provides exceptional customer services. The FWO also aims to be the most respected regulator in Australia in the future. It focuses on being an efficient and effective workplace regulator by being responsive towards the evolving needs along with the expectations of the Australian community and government. In addition the FWO needs to focus on increasing productivity through the reduction of the burden of regulations on the businesses and helping the businesses to find ways to enhance the productivity. The FWO needs to continuously aid employment participation by addressing issues in employment and supporting business towards appropriate decision making. In the future FWO has to focus on enforcement and compliance efforts in situation of serious non compliance and where the greatest impact and benefit may be delivered. References Allen, D. (2015). Wielding the big stick: lessons for enforcing anti-discrimination law from the Fair Work Ombudsman.Australian Journal of Human Rights,21(1), 119-142. Bray, Mark Waring, Peter Arnold, (author.) Cooper, Rae, (author.) Macneil, Johanna, 1964-, (author.) (2014). Employment relations : theory and practice (3rd edition). North Ryde, N.S.W. McGraw-Hill Education Croft v Smarter Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd [2016] FWC 6859 Fair Work Ombudsman v Phua Foo Pty Ltd [2018] FCA 137 Fair Work Ombudsman v Siner Enterprises Pty Ltd Anor (No.2) [2018] FCCA 589 Fair Work Ombudsman v WXZ Enterprises Pty Ltd Ors [2018] FCCA 616. Farbenblum, B., Berg, L. (2017). Migrant workers access to remedy for exploitation in Australia: the role of the national Fair Work Ombudsman.Australian Journal of Human Rights, 1-22. Hardy, T., Howe, J. (2013). Too Soft or Too Severe: Enforceable Undertakings and the Regulatory Dilemma Facing the Fair Work Ombudsman.Fed. L. Rev.,41, 1. Hardy, T., Howe, J., Cooney, S. (2013). Less Energetic but More Enlightened: Exploring the Fair Work Ombudsman's Use of Litigation in Regulatory Enforcement.Sydney L. Rev.,35, 565. Kramar, Robin (2014). Human resource management in Australia : strategy, people, performance (Fifth ed). North Ryde, N.S.W. McGraw-Hill Education Mt Arthur Coal Pty Ltd v Jodie Goodall [2016] FWCFB 5492. Ombudsman, F. W. (2017). "Small business the Fair Work Act. Ombudsman, F. W. (2017). Fair Work Ombudsman. Regan, L., Lee, C. (2015). Workplace law: Review of the fair work act: What will change?.Proctor, The,35(4), 38. Reilly, A., Howe, J., Berg, L., Farbenblum, B., Tan, G. (2017). International Students and the Fair Work Ombudsman. Welcome to the Fair Work Ombudsman website. (2018). Fair Work Ombudsman. Retrieved 29 March 2018, from https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/our-role/enforcing-the-legislation/litigation/2017-2018-litigation-outcomes