Employers who underpaid them were warned next breaches will be dealt with more harshly
Twenty-one employees in Victoria’s Gippsland period were back-paid more than $21, 000 representing wages and entitlements upon the intervention of the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Their employers are now on notice that future breaches of workplace rules will not be tolerated, according to Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Kristen Hannah.
The cases involved six workers in Warragul, 13 in Leongatha and two in Lynbrook.
In Warragul, the workers, including a teenager, were incorrectly classified which led to the underpayment of their ordinary hourly rates as well as their weekend and public holiday rates under the Restaurant Industry Award 2010.
The underpayments came up to $8749.
They workers were repaid after the Fair Work Ombudsman intervened and informed the business of its obligations.
In Leongatha, the full-time employees’ employer failed to update their wage rates after the annual increase in July.
The underpayments were as little as 47 cents per hour, but the total bill came up to $6027 once the wage rates were updated under the General Retail Industry Award 2010.
The Fair Work Ombudsman intervened and sent the business a Letter of Caution. The business complied and made full back payments.
In Lynbrook, an automotive servicing business underpaid two staff members by a combined $7089.
One of the employees was a full-time clerical worker who was underpaid ordinary hourly rates under the Clerks Private Sector Award 2010.
The other worker, who was employed only during the summer holiday period, was underpaid the ordinary hourly rates under the Manufacturing and Associated Industries Award 2010.
The Fair Work Ombudsman requested an audit; the business complied and made the back payments.
According to Hannah, in each of the three cases it was the first time the employer came to their attention. All rectified their errors right away.
“While these mistakes may be careless rather than malicious, the fact remains that there has never been more freely available information for employers than there is right now so there are no excuses for making these mistakes,” she said.
The three businesses have been told that further mistakes could result in serious enforcement action, including litigation and the potential for hefty penalties.
“In these cases we decided the best outcome was to make sure the workers were repaid quickly and lengthy court proceedings were not necessary,” Ms Hannah said.
