Gold Coast nightclub workers underpaid
Dozens of workers on Queensland’s Gold Coast have shared more than $111,000 back-pay after recent inquiries by the Fair Work Ombudsman revealed they had been underpaid.
The biggest recovery was $63,200 for 54 workers at a Surfers Paradise nightclub who were underpaid their minimum hourly rates and weekend and late-night penalty rates.
The workers, including current and former employees, were underpaid over a 12-month period in 2012-2013. They received an average $1170 each.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James says the underpayments occurred because the employer was not fully aware of wage rates applicable to the workplace.
“It is important for Gold Coast employers to ensure they are fully aware of their obligations under workplace laws, otherwise they can end up facing unexpected bills for back-payment of wages, as occurred here,” she says.
Ms James says the nightclub avoided enforcement action by co-operating with Fair Work inspectors and promptly rectifying the underpayments.
“When we find employers who have made inadvertent mistakes, our preference is to educate them about their obligations and work with them to resolve the issues,” she said.
“This is an example of a fair, reasonable and proportionate response to employers who admit their mistakes, fix them promptly and put systems in place to ensure the errors are not repeated in the future.”
Other recent Gold Coast recoveries include:
- $15,700 for 31 employees at a cleaning business who were underpaid their minimum hourly rates over a 12-month period in 2012-2013, and
- $5200 for 10 fast food workers at a take-away business underpaid their minimum hourly rates in 2013 and 2014.
In all cases, the employees were reimbursed in full without the need for further action after Fair Work inspectors contacted the businesses and explained their obligations.
“These underpayments were genuine mistakes and it was pleasing to see all business owners accept assistance from inspectors to put processes in place to ensure ongoing compliance with workplace law," Ms James said.
The Fair Work Ombudsman's website - www.fairwork.gov.au- contains a range of tools and resources to assist employers to understand and meet their workplace obligations and operate at best practice.
Online tools include PayCheck Plus for employers and employees to determine the correct award and minimum wages for their industry, templates for pay-slips and time-and-wages records and a range of Best Practice Guides.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has expanded, and will continue to expand, its suite of free tools and resources to assist business to ensure they are getting things right.
The Agency has a dedicated webpage for small business owners at www.fairwork.gov.au/smallbusiness
Source : Fair Work Ombudsman 213rd February 2015
