Take-away food operator penalised

The Federal Circuit and Family Court has imposed a $10,312.50 penalty against an Echuca business and $2062.50 penalty against the company’s sole director.

The penalties were imposed in response to a failure to comply with a compliance notice, which required the company to calculate and back-pay a worker’s entitlements.

The company made payments to the worker in respect of the compliance notice only after the Fair Work Ombudsman commenced legal action.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said employers that failed to act on compliance notices needed to be aware they could face court-imposed penalties on top of having to make payments to workers.

The Fair Work Ombudsman investigated after receiving a request for assistance from the affected worker, who was employed with the company between at least 2017 and 2022.

The regulator issued a compliance notice to the company in February 2023 after forming a belief the company had received JobKeeper payments from the Australian Taxation Office for the worker in 2020 and 2021 but failed to provide those payments in full to the worker.

Employers and employees can visit fairwork.gov.au or call the Fair Work Infoline on 131 394 for free advice and assistance about their rights and obligations in the workplace.