Australia Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s550: s 550 Directors, managers, advisers and others must not be involved in an employer's contravention

A person who is involved in a contravention of a civil remedy provision of the Act (for example underpaying award or NES entitlements, failing to keep records or issue pay slips, adverse action or sham contracting) is taken to have contravened it personally. A person is involved if, and only if, they aided, abetted, counselled or procured the contravention, induced it by threats, promises or otherwise, were knowingly concerned in or party to it by any act or omission, directly or indirectly, or conspired with others to effect it. In the held judgments (FWO v Myles, FWO v Aldred) the court treated directors and managers as involved where they knew the essential facts making up the contravention, such as the rates actually paid; knowing that those facts were unlawful was not needed. An involved person faces the individual penalty, back-payment orders and, where they knew the employer's contravention was serious, the higher serious contravention penalty (s 557A(5A)).