Hiring migrant workers? Be honest and pay them correctly!
**Please note we are not discussing immigration or Australian working rights in this article. However, please note that we highly recommend employers do check an employee’s working rights in Australia prior to them commencing employment. HRAnywhere can assist you with this!
The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured a total of $5,146,100 in court penalties after Blue Sky Kids Land, a kids clothing retailer operating in New South Wales and ACT was found to have exploited four Chinese migrants and hindering or obstructing Fair Work Inspectors, despite having been put on notice to comply.
In short, one of the four workers requested assistance from the Fair Work Ombudsman about underpayments. Through an investigation it was found that individual wage underpayments ranged from $14,744 to $45,140 accounting for underpaid minimum wages, casual loading and penalty rates. Two of the workers were underpaid overtime, and one of the workers was not paid in lieu of notice or annual leave at the end of their employment. All workers were not paid their superannuation contributions.
Other contraventions included:
Breaching record keeping and pay slips requirements;
Deleting time sheets;
Providing false records to an Inspector;
Threatening an employee with dismissal for speaking to an inspector unless she agreed to be engaged as a contractor; and
Closing retail stores on days where Fair Work inspectors were scheduled to undertake a site visit.
The liability was placed on the business itself, but significant penalties were also imposed on two of the company directors. In addition to the penalties, the Court ordered back-payments to be made to the workers, plus superannuation and interest.
Some of these contraventions which are considered ‘serious’ under the Protecting Vulnerable Workers law reforms, attracted a tenfold increase in available maximum penalties, because they were committed deliberately and systematically.
Furthermore, the directors knew their legal obligations and simply ignored them throughout the investigation and did not try to remedy the situation after a notice was given.
The company and its subsidiaries are now in liquidation.