A Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) audit of security providers for 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games has revealed that none of the employers were compliant with workplace laws.
Security arrangements for the Commonwealth Games were contracted out by the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation to four principal providers who in turn used sub-contractors to provide security for the 11-day event.
“The consistent issue we discovered was guards not being paid until well after they had completed their shifts. In some instances, guards had to wait months to get paid properly. This was a breach of employers’ obligations under the Fair Work Act to pay their employees on time,” the FWO said.
“The delays were caused by shortcomings in the electronic record keeping system used to record work hours, which meant guards’ shifts had to be manually reconciled before they could be paid.”
The FWO also found two security providers failed to properly pay overtime, weekend and public holiday penalty rates, which led to the underpayments for ten guards. Three of the audited security providers also did not keep proper employment records or provide correct pay slips.
In addition to recovering lost wages for affected guards, the FWO issued: four Infringement Notices, totalling $12,600 in penalties for record-keeping and pay slip breaches; contravention letters to all the audited businesses that required them to take action to rectify their non-compliance; and one Formal Caution, putting a security provider on notice about possible legal action for any future breaches.
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