The Fair Work Ombudsman has recovered over $624,332 in wages and entitlements for employees in Victoria’s Dandenong and Warrnambool – Otway Ranges region following recent campaigns.
Fair Work inspectors audited the time and wage records of over 500 businesses across the two regions for compliance with workplace laws, uncovering a total of 284 breaches.
In the Dandenong region, 42% of the 253 businesses audited were found to be non‑compliant with workplace laws:
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â— 23% of businesses were found to be non-compliant with record-keeping and pay slip requirements, while 26% were not paying their employees correctly.
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â— Fair Work inspectors recovered $428,676 in wages and entitlements for 185 workers in the region.
The overall non-compliance rate in Warrnambool – Otway Ranges was similarly high at 41%:
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◠Of the 251 businesses audited in the region, 21% of businesses were non‑compliant with record-keeping and pay slip requirements and 28% were not paying their employees correctly.
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â— Two hundred employees were back-paid a total of $195,656 as a result of the audit.
Across the two regions, 31 formal cautions, 15 infringement notices (on-the-spot fines) and 9 compliance notices were issued.
In one instance, a grocery business was issued with a compliance notice for failing to meet the minimum base rates and penalty rates under the relevant Award. In line with the compliance notice, the employer back-paid a total of $14,455 owed to four casual workers.
The Dandenong campaign also led to an Enforceable Undertaking between the Fair Work Ombudsman and a sheet metal manufacturer, after the business was found to have underpaid sixteen casual employees from non-English speaking backgrounds.
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