Townsville Café Owner Penalised $54,000 Over Failure To Pay Unfair Dismissal Compensation

A record penalty has been imposed against the former owner of a café, for ignoring a Fair Work Commission order to compensate an employee who was unfairly dismissed.

The business owner, who formerly owned and ran the café, has been penalised $9000 and his company has been penalised a further $45,000, in the Federal Circuit Court.

The $54,000 in penalties is a record for a Fair Work Ombudsman legal action against an employer for failing to comply with an order to pay unfair dismissal compensation.

The Fair Work Ombudsman reiterated that the Agency is prepared to use every tool at its disposal to ensure legal orders are complied with and justice is served.

The Fair Work Commission made an order requiring the company to pay $6200 compensation to an employee in 2016.

The Commission found the employee had been unfairly dismissed in 2015 after working at the café as an assistant and a manager.

The employee contacted the Fair Work Ombudsman seeking assistance after the compensation amount was not paid.

Fair Work Ombudsman Inspectors made several requests for the former business owner and his company to comply with the Commission’s order - but the former business owner refused to pay the amount ordered by the Commission, advising an Inspector that the worker would “get nothing out of me”.

The former business owner and his company paid the worker the outstanding unfair dismissal compensation owing to her only after the Fair Work Ombudsman commenced legal action.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has commenced legal action against several employers over the past six years for failing to pay unfair dismissal compensation ordered by the Fair Work Commission.

The previous largest penalties of nearly $50,000 were secured against a Melbourne based company and its director in 2014 for failing to pay $2200 compensation.

Are you finding it difficult to comply with Fair Work requirements?
ISOsafe offer Fair Work support to businesses Australia-wide. One of our Specialists will visit your workplace to review your processes and documents. Based on this, we will provide you with advice, compliance documents, training and a detailed report containing areas for improvement. Call ISOsafe today on 1300 789 132.
 

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A Massage Parlour Operator “too busy and lazy” To Keep Records Has Been Fined $43,200

The operator of a number of massage parlours in Adelaide who said he was “too busy and lazy” to keep proper records has been penalised for contraventions of record-keeping and pay slip laws, following legal action by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The penalties, imposed in the South Australian Employment Court, are the result of legal action by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The Fair Work Ombudsman audited the business owners massage parlours in 2016 as part of unannounced visits to 19 massage shops in Hobart and Adelaide, which were conducted in response to concerns of non-compliance in the sector.

However, the operator responded by advising that the records requested by the Fair Work inspector were not kept and that staff were not issued with pay slips.

In an email to a Fair Work inspector, the business owner stated that “During the past few years, I did not do the records and other things properly, because I am too busy and lazy”.

The contraventions occurred despite the Fair Work Ombudsman having previously put the business owner on notice, during investigations in 2012 and 2014, of the need to comply with record-keeping and pay slip obligations under the Fair Work Act.

Deputy President Michael Ardlie found that the contraventions were “serious”, and said “Proper record keeping and the provision of pay slips is essential to ensure there is compliance with workplace laws.”

“The failure to maintain relevant records frustrated the investigation process. Further, it is not known whether employees of the respondent suffered any specific monetary loss or entitlements in the absence of relevant records.”

We Help You Keep Records and Comply With Workplace Laws
ISOsafe offer Fair Work support to businesses Australia-wide. One of our Specialists will visit your workplace to review your processes and documents. Based on this, we will provide you with advice, compliance documents, training and a detailed report containing areas for improvement. Call ISOsafe today on 1300 789 132.
 

Perth Security Company Caught Underpaying Security Guards Cops $81,000 In Penalties

A Perth security company has been penalised in Court for underpaying its guards more than $200,000.

A penalty of $81,270 has been imposed against the Rockingham-based security company in the Federal Court, as a result of legal action by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

In addition to the penalty, the company has back-paid 22 security guards a total of $205,408 it underpaid them between December, 2014 and January, 2016.

Underpayments of individual workers ranged from $227 to $20,174.

The Fair Work Ombudsman discovered the underpayments when it conducted a self-initiated audit of the company in 2015 as part of proactive campaign in Perth’s southern suburbs.

Fair Work inspectors found that the guards - including 13 who performed permanent night work - were paid flat hourly rates of between $21.50 and $24 for static guard work and $25 for patrol work.

This led to the guards being underpaid their minimum hourly rates, casual loadings, overtime pay and penalty rates for night, weekend and public holiday work under the Security Services Industry Award.

In his judgment on the matter, Justice Michael Barker dismissed the company’s submission that it thought paying flat rates above lawful minimum rates for ordinary hours would counteract the different rates of pay for other periods as “at best, a misunderstanding of the law, but a lame excuse”.

Justice Barker accepted that there may have been no blatant design to circumvent the law but found that there was no real excuse for the contraventions, which occurred without any regard for the award requirements.

Justice Barker also ordered the company to commission workplace relations training for its managers.

The company back-paid the guards after the Fair Work Ombudsman commenced legal action.

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Melbourne Restaurant Owners Hit With Almost $200,000 In Penalties For Underpaying Staff

The operators of a Melbourne restaurant have been hit with nearly $200,000 in penalties, after a Judge ruled they deliberately underpaid workers.

The penalties, imposed in the Federal Circuit Court, are the result of an investigation and legal action by the Fair Work Ombudsman. 

Thirteen employees at the restaurant in Westfield Knox shopping centre, including six young workers under 21, were underpaid a combined $26,707 over a period of just three-and-a-half months in 2015.

Workers were paid flat rates which failed to meet the minimum hourly rate for 11 of the workers. The flat rates were also not enough to meet weekend, overtime, night and public holiday penalty rates under the Restaurant Industry Award 2010.

Casual loading, shift allowances and annual leave entitlements were also underpaid.
The employees missed out on between 16.95 and 38.22 per cent of their minimum entitlements. They have now been back-paid in full.

The ex-operator and his company also contravened workplace laws by failing to keep proper employment records and failing to comply with a Notice to Produce pay records.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James says the substantial penalties reflect the seriousness of the contraventions.

“We have no patience for business operators who fail to respect the law and ignore our advice,” Ms James said.

Ms James said addressing underpayment of young workers in the restaurant industry would continue to be a key focus for her agency.

“We have commenced more than 25 legal actions against restaurant industry operators over the past two years, which means the restaurant sector has accounted for about a quarter of our legal actions over this period,” she said.

“We will continue to scrutinise the restaurant sector closely and employers should be aware that we treat cases involving underpayment of young workers particularly seriously because we are conscious that they can be vulnerable due to a lack of awareness of their entitlements and a reluctance to complain.”

Are You A Business Owner In Need Of Expert Help?
ISOsafe offer Fair Work support to businesses Australia-wide. One of our Specialists will visit your workplace to review your processes and documents. Based on this, we will provide you with advice, compliance documents, training and a detailed report containing areas for improvement. Call ISOsafe today on 1300 789 132.