Five Sydney businesses have been prosecuted for underpaying workers and forced to back-pay over $62,000 in unpaid wages and entitlements following audits by Fair Work Inspectors.
Casual Worker Underpaid At Restaurant
In one matter, a casual worker employed at a restaurant in Camperdown was back-paid $12,500 after Fair Work inspectors found that they had been underpaid weekend penalty rates for a period of almost three years.
The worker was not paid the correct weekend rate as required under the Restaurant Industry Award 2010, being paid only $19.56 per hour for Sunday work when entitled to rates of up to $34.23 per hour.
After the worker contacted the Fair Work Ombudsman, the employer rectified the underpayment.
Registered Nurse Underpaid At Medical Centre
In another matter, the Fair Work Ombudsman received a request for assistance from a registered nurse who was being underpaid at a medical centre in Putney.
Fair Work inspectors found that the nurse, employed on a casual basis, had been paid under the wrong classification, and was also paid below the hourly rate of pay stipulated under the Nurses Award 2010.
The underpayments occurred over a period of more than two years, equating to a total underpayment of $15,605.
Fair Work inspectors found that the employer was unaware of the worker’s correct classification and that they were not familiar with the Award.
The employer cooperated with the Fair Work Ombudsman and back-paid the worker in full.
Accountants Underpaid At Solar Power Panel Installation Business
In a third matter, a full-time financial accountant employed by a solar power panel installation business in Forest Lodge was back-paid $6,088 in owed entitlements.
The worker requested assistance from the Fair Work Ombudsman after not receiving the redundancy payments and two weeks’ payment in lieu of notice they were entitled to.
Project Manager and Accountant Underpaid in Digital Marketing Company and Removalist Company
The Fair Work Ombudsman also assisted two other full-time workers in the inner Sydney area to recover outstanding final pay entitlements: a project manager at a digital marketing business in Surry Hills, as well as an accountant at a removalist company in Marrickville.
Following intervention by the Fair Work Ombudsman, the project manager was back-paid a total of $15,470 in unpaid wages and entitlements, and the accountant was back-paid $13,316.
The underpayments in these cases were due to the accumulation of a number of unpaid entitlements, including termination entitlements, annual leave entitlements, outstanding pro rata long service leave entitlements and unpaid bonuses.
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