Get Fair Work off your Back – Pay your Employees Correctly or Risk Penalties!

A Fair Work Inspector issued a Compliance Notice to a carpentry business in Victoria’s South Gippsland region after forming a belief that a young full time apprentice carpenter had been underpaid minimum wages during his employment between July 2019 and June 2021. It was found that the apprentice was also not paid any wages for his final two weeks of work and was not paid accrued but untaken annual leave entitlements at the end of his employment.
 
The FWO alleges the employer, without reasonable excuse, failed to comply with the Compliance Notice, which required him to calculate and back-pay the worker’s entitlements as per the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2010, the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 and the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards. There was also an allegation of breach of pay slip laws.
 
Therefore, alongside the requirement to back pay the employee in question, the FWO is now also seeking penalties against the employer which will include a penalty of up to $8,250 for the alleged failure to comply with the Compliance Notice and a penalty of up to $13,320 in relation to the alleged pay slip breach. In addition to this, FWO is seeking a court order for the employer to take the steps set out in the Compliance Notice, which includes rectifying the alleged underpayments in full, plus superannuation and interest.