DPD temporary workers may have missed out on sick pay and pensions, internal documents show

Missing payments suggest employment laws may have been breached by recruitment agencies used by courier company

Low-paid temporary workers at one of the UK’s top courier businesses have missed out on entitlements to sick pay and pension contributions, internal documents suggest.

The payments – typically included in the “charge rate” that large brands pay recruitment companies to supply them with temporary workers – are missing from internal spreadsheets calculating the cost of employing thousands of transient staff working at DPD.

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Sydney gardener fined almost $200,000 for removing 287 trees to improve harbourside mansion’s water views

Local council described incident as ‘worst act of environmental vandalism in Lane Cove history’

It began with a gardener being hired to trim grass at a harbourside mansion in Sydney – and escalated to payments being left in a shoe for the unlawful felling of hundreds of native trees in protected bushland.

Now a court has fined Yi Wang $187,500 for his role in organising and carrying out the destruction of 287 trees from council-owned foreshore bushland at Woodford Bay in Longueville in late 2023.

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Labor open to ‘sensible amendments’ on gambling reforms, minister says – as it happened

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Coalition demands NDIS changes focus on fraud, corruption

Liberal frontbencher Tim Wilson also called on the government to focus more on fraud and corruption issues in the NDIS, as the Coalition and Labor negotiate on changes to the disability scheme.

We have people who are awarding either packages to people when they shouldn’t be used, we’re having people taking advantage of the system and we know this is being exposed.

And so as a consequence we’ve seen this massive growth continue to go on and we need to make sure that that’s the focus, not the targeting of the clients. You know, if you go out to voters in Australia, there are a lot of people who are on disability support packages who are very nervous about their future and it’s because of how this government has looked at reforms and they feel like they’re being targeted, not the fraudsters.

We’re not wowsers, we do believe in protecting children, particularly from harm.

Under the government’s proposed bill, it doesn’t limit the capacity to advertise to children and that’s something that I’m concerned about, making sure that we’ve got the measures that are consistent, appropriate, and also reflecting the changing nature of technology

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Labor open to ‘sensible amendments’ to gambling laws after inquiry hears alcohol and cocaine offered to punters

Sources say Albanese government willing to tighten rules on betting inducements but less likely to budge on TV and online advertisements

The Albanese government is prepared to tighten rules on gambling inducements, but is less likely to budge on advertising rules, as negotiations continue on wagering legislation, which so far has lacked the support needed to pass parliament.

Federal Labor is open to considering amendments to its legislation from the Coalition when MPs return to Canberra this week, sources say.

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‘Not enough air traffic controllers’: safety concerns at Sydney airport after Jetstar and Qatar planes involved in near-miss

Planes narrowly avoid collision on tarmac with Jetstar A320 forced to ‘brake firmly’ as Qatar Boeing 777 towed into its path

Two planes have narrowly avoided a collision on the tarmac of Australia’s busiest airport as it struggles with staff shortages.

The Jetstar and Qatar Airways planes almost collided at Sydney airport at 7am on Sunday.

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Thailand school shooting toll rises to nine after 12-year-old dies, police say

Teenage girl treated in hospital after Friday’s school shooting has died, police say

The death toll from a school shooting in Thailand rose to nine on Saturday, after police said a 12-year-old girl caught up in Friday’s incident had died.

Police at the Plai Bang Police Station in Nonthaburi Province said the girl, who had been treated at hospital with critical wounds, had died, a day after a 14-year-old boy allegedly shot his grandparents and then killed more people at his school before turning the gun on ⁠himself.

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Iran issues tough demands to reopen strait of Hormuz as deal still out of reach

Tehran urges US to ‘correct its behaviour’ as UAE says one of its ships targeted by Iranian missile

Iran has issued tough new demands for reopening the strait of Hormuz, while the United Arab Emirates said one of its ships was targeted by an Iranian missile, as a deal to open the strategic waterway remained out of reach on Saturday.

Iran’s politburo-like body known as the supreme national security council said the strait of Hormuz will not open until the United States “corrects its behaviour”, and its state broadcaster published a statement from the council’s secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who is also a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

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Hunter Biden talks about how his father’s cancer has spread and is causing him pain

Joe Biden’s prostate cancer is reportedly ‘debilitating’, even as ex-president continues to speak out on public issues

Former US president Joe Biden’s prostate cancer has spread to other parts of his body and is causing him pain, even as he continues to speak out on public issues, his son Hunter said in an interview.

In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC broadcast late on Friday, Hunter Biden grew emotional as he discussed his father’s condition, describing it as very sad to watch.

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