The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured $11,833 in penalties in court against the operators of a bakery in regional Queensland.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court has imposed $8,057 in penalties against sole trader Allan James Beil, who operates the Woolshed Bakery in Tara, for failing to comply with a Compliance Notice requiring him to back-pay a worker and failing to issue pay slips to the worker.
The Court has also imposed a $3,776 penalty against Brooke Beil, who is involved in managing the bakery, for her involvement in the pay slip contravention.
In addition to the penalties, the Court has ordered Mr Beil to fully comply with the Compliance Notice by calculating and back-paying the outstanding entitlements owed to the worker, plus superannuation and interest.
The Fair Work Ombudsman commenced an investigation after receiving a request for assistance from the affected worker, who was employed at the bakery on a casual basis to perform baking production duties from March to May, 2020.
A Fair Work Inspector issued a Compliance Notice to Mr Beil in July 2021 after forming a belief the worker was underpaid her casual night shift allowance and weekend shiftwork penalty rates, owed under the General Retail Industry Award 2010.
Judge Amanda Tonkin noted that the Compliance Notice had been issued more than 12 months ago but the worker had still not been back-paid.
Judge Tonkin found that it was important to send a message that the contraventions were “serious and not acceptable”.
