The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched a national "record keeping blitz", inspecting 50 businesses across six Aussie cities. Targeting retailers, salons, and car washes, inspectors issued on-the-spot fines of up to $9,390 for poor records and missing pay slips. It’s a timely reminder: under the Fair Work Act, employers must keep records on pay, leave, overtime, super, and termination for 7 years—or risk serious penalties.

The Federal Court has warned employers they can’t defer or withhold incentive payments once they become payable, even if the employment contracts say otherwise. Fortrend Securities tried to withhold 50% of bonuses from two ex-staff who resigned before the delayed payout, arguing the second half wasn’t due yet under the contract. But the court found bonuses were fully payable once commission targets were met, meaning the full amount had to be paid within a month under the Fair Work Act. An appeal is underway.

Corrs makes the case for why Australia should position itself as a regional arbitration hub for financial services disputes. While courts like the NSW Supreme Court have traditionally been preferred, global trends show a clear shift toward arbitration, especially as cross-border finance deals become more complex. The LCIA, ICDR and HKIAC are all reporting surging caseloads in finance-related arbitration—yet in Australia, financial services disputes made up just 3.5% of ACICA cases in 2022. With the right push, Corrs reckons Australia could tap into this momentum and become APAC’s go-to forum for finance arbitration: Corrs

NSW Court of Appeal has a new face—Stephen Free, the barrister known for making Clive Palmer cry and building a formidable career in constitutional, commercial and admin law. He started his career at Mallesons and the Crown Solicitors’ Office, and has appeared in some of the country’s biggest cases—Williams v Commonwealth and Epic v Apple. Sworn in Monday, his advice to lawyers? Take the work seriously, not yourself. Say less: Lawyerly

On June 5, Justice Bernard Murphy will clock 1,000 days since reserving judgment in the Brambles class action—yes, 1,000. Investors allege they were misled before a 2017 profit dive, but the spotlight’s now on Murphy, not Brambles. He’s “sincerely regretted” the delay, blaming timetabling, but promises to clear his backlog before retiring next year. Clock’s ticking: AFR

A&O Shearman’s Perth office just scored Lisa Koch, NRF’s former Sydney head and project finance lead. She joins after 16+ years at NRF, boosting A&O’s projects team. It’s the latest blow to NRF, after losing five international partners (including two Aussies) to A&O Shearman last year: Lawyers Weekly

The Liberal Party has picked Sussan Ley as its new leader, making her the first woman to head the party after Peter Dutton’s post-election exit. She beat Angus Taylor by just four votes, pledging to rebuild trust with women and young people. She told reporters that all policies were under review, including the Coalition's nuclear energy push: BBC, Capital Brief

NSW’s plan to expand abortion access has cleared the upper house, just barely. Greens MP Dr Amanda Cohn’s original bill aimed to make abortion more available in public hospitals and allow midwives to prescribe abortion pills. After heavy pushback, only the latter survived. The bill now heads to the lower house, with anti-abortion figures like Tony Abbott and Archbishop Anthony Fisher leading protests: Guardian

How does a $350k grad salary sound? Not bad, we’d bet — but can you survive is the real question? High-frequency trading firms like Optiver and IMC are throwing $300k+ salaries at STEM grads, but up to 30% are cut within six months. Sydney's trading scene is booming, with grads lured by bonuses and million-dollar upside. But it’s a high-stress, exam-heavy, bell curve battle from day one. Blink and you’re out: Capital Brief

BHP, Rio and Fortescue: jumped more than 2% with the China–US trade flipping the script on the ASX. Investors dumped banks and defensives for miners, while CBA and gold stocks slid. The surprise tariff truce triggered a rush back to cyclicals—but some brokers warn the rally may be getting ahead of earnings reality: AFR

Regis Resources and United Tractors: are now the final contenders for the $2bn Ravenswood gold mine, with Chifeng reportedly out. Regis, advised by Greenhill, may need a raise to fund the bid. Final offers for Ravenswood are due in about a week: The Australian

Frasers Property: is selling 100% of Real Utilities – the carbon-neutral embedded networks business with 15,000+ connections across 27 sites. The Singapore-listed group has tapped Chapman Capital Partners to run the sale, with the asset tipped to hit $19m recurring revenue by FY30: AFR

BGH Capital: has made a non-binding 80c per share bid to take control of Webjet, after joining forces with Gary Weiss and Ariadne to build a 10.76% stake. Webjet confirmed BGH was last week’s mystery buyer. The trio have signed a co-op agreement—but BGH can keep buying shares solo: Capital Brief

Fortescue has axed 90 hydrogen roles as doubts mount over the pace of Australia’s energy transition. The cuts are spread across the QLD electrolyser facility and the WA hydrogen unit. Despite calling hydrogen “the fuel of the future”, it’s shifting focus to R&D over rollout: The Australian

Rio Tinto’s flagship Pilbara Blend will contain less iron, dropping from 61.6% to 60.8% Fe content from Q3. It’s the first official downgrade in nearly 18 years. That means lower prices per tonne, raising revenue concerns for Rio and Governments. Instead, Rio Tinto is betting big on South America’s Lithium Triangle, with CEO Jakob Stausholm calling it the “optimal location” for low-cost, high-grade supply: AFR, mining.com

ASX is cutting around 100 roles—8% of its workforce—as it scrambles to reduce costs and redirect investment under intense regulatory pressure. The CHESS disaster, tech outages, and legal action from ASIC have the exchange on the back foot. Roles tied to CHESS upgrades are safe, but broader teams are in the firing line: AFR

Coinbase will join the S&P 500, becoming the first crypto firm in the benchmark index. It replaces Discover Financial, which is being bought by Capital One. Shares jumped 10% pre-market as index funds gear up to add it: FinExtra

Leonardo DiCaprio’s UK-based vegan sneaker brand, Loci, has racked up a $4.3m loss after the movie star sunk part of his $465m fortune into the brand. Despite celeb backing and eco-cred, the recycled-plastic kicks haven’t paid off—though Leo’s additional $10.6m injection is keeping it afloat, for now: Real Commercial

Conquest has snapped up Crown Group’s troubled Eastlakes site for $75m, planning a $400m mixed-use revamp with 800 homes and a Queensbridge retail hub. Once tied up in Crown’s co-founder feud, the site was sold at a discount after liquidation and $50m owed to CBA. It’s the latest distressed asset pick-up as tighter credit reshapes Sydney’s dev game: AFR

Google is staring down $20.8bn in civil claims from price comparison sites across Europe. With hearings looming in London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Hamburg, plaintiffs like Idealo and Pricerunner claim Google used its search dominance to divert their customers to its own services. Google denies wrongdoing, calling it a cash grab by rivals: Bloomberg

Microsoft is laying off around 6,000 staff—about 3% of its workforce. The tech giant is ramping up its $80bn in AI-related spending and looks to offset margin pressure from its growing cloud and data centre footprint. The move follows strong growth from its cloud computing competition, Azure. But with tighter cloud margins, analysts say deeper cuts may be needed to fund its AI infrastructure buildout: Reuters