$109,000 back-pay for employees in Melbourne’s North/North-West

Workers in Melbourne’s North and North-Western suburbs have been back-paid a total of $109,200 following recent intervention by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The largest recovery was $25,700 for a Gladstone Park tradesman who was underpaid accrued annual leave entitlements and annual leave loading upon termination of employment.

After a Fair Work inspector contacted the business and explained its obligations, the employee was promptly reimbursed all money owed without the need for further action against the employer.

Other recent recoveries include:

• $20,200 for three Craigieburn tradesmen underpaid allowances,
• $17,600 for three Campbellfield warehouse workers underpaid the minimum hourly rate, penalty rates, wages in lieu of notice and annual leave entitlements,
• $10,900 for an apprentice at Watsonia underpaid the minimum hourly rate, penalty rates and allowances,
• $9200 for a Parkville professional not paid bonuses he was entitled to,
• $9000 for an East Brunswick chef underpaid penalty rates,
• $6200 for a worker at Rosanna underpaid annual leave entitlements,
• $5400 for a Keilor salesperson underpaid commissions and annual leave entitlements, and
• $5000 for a Bundoora tradesman underpaid annual leave on termination.

Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson says that when Fair Work inspectors identify a problem and contact a business, most employers check their records, realise a problem has occurred, and fix it immediately.

“When we find mistakes, we’re here to assist and give practical advice to employers on how to voluntarily fix them,” Mr Wilson says.

“These Melbourne businesses have now corrected the errors that led to the underpayments and put processes in place to ensure they will not happen again.”

Between July 1, 2009 and 30 September, 2012, the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered a total of $100.2 million in back-pay for more than 56,000 unpaid workers in Australia. Since March, 2006, the Fair Work Ombudsman and its predecessor agencies have recouped a total of $185.5 million for 124,000 workers.

Workers or employers seeking support should get in touch with the Fair Work Ombudsman via the website www.fairwork.gov.au or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94.

Source: Fair Work Ombudsman, 6 December 2012