Good news (for a change)

March 11, 2017
Issue 

Commonwealth Bank to repay superannuation

The Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has agreed to repay employer superannuation to more than 7000 part-time workers that was not applied to overtime over the past eight years.

The CBA will repay the superannuation to all part-time workers since 2009, including those who have switched to full-time positions or have since left the bank. The average payment is $180 a year.

The CBA maintains it was not breaking the law by only paying superannuation on ordinary hours to part-time staff rather than extra hours or overtime.

While the reimbursements are tiny, the Finance Sector Union's threat to complain to Fair Work Australia could have caused further harm to the CBA's battered reputation.

Virgin, Jetstar fined over pricing

Virgin Australia and Jetstar will pay penalties of hundreds of thousands of dollars for their use of "misleading and deceptive" pricing tactics.

The fines, $200,000 for Virgin and $545,000 for Jetstar, were imposed by the Federal Court on March 7, when it found their use of "drip pricing" was in contravention of Australian consumer law.

Drip pricing occurs when an advertised price becomes unavoidably higher as additional booking, credit card and service fees appear as an online transaction progresses.

The ACCC said it was now turning its attention to consumer guarantees in the airline industry, including excessive cancellation fees of up to $550 per ticket and refusal to provide refunds and compensation for the airlines' mistakes.

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