A former Perth restaurant operator and the company behind the venue have been fined more than $50,000 for failing to back-pay staff.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court imposed a penalty of $27,935 against GCH Vic Park Pty Ltd which operated The Globe Pan and Grill in East Victoria Park. Jay Patel, the company’s director, has been fined $5,587.
The Fair Work Ombudsman says the penalties were imposed after the company failed to follow a compliance notice requiring it to calculate and back-pay 18 cooks and food and beverage attendants. Patel was also involved in the breach.
The court has also ordered the company to pay $18,720 in compensation to the workers, as well as interest and superannuation.
GCH Vic Park was first investigated by a regulator as part of a proactive auditing campaign. The Fair Work inspector believed that the company had underpaid multiple full-time, part-time, and casual staff, and consequently issued the compliance notice in July 2023.
The inspector formed the belief the employees were variously underpaid minimum wage rates, penalty rates for weekend work, and accrued but untaken annual leave entitlements when their employment ended. Those entitlements were owed under the Restaurant Industry Award 2020 and the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards, between December 2021 and July 2023.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth says employers that failed to act on compliance notices needed to be aware they could face court-imposed penalties on top of having to pay workers.
“When compliance notices are not followed, we will continue to take legal action,” Booth says.
Employers and employees can visit here for assistance.
Photography by Tibor Janas / Pexels.
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