The former director of a contract catering company in regional New South Wales has been penalised $50,100 for underpaying workers at Wagga’s Rules Club.
Mohammed Moseem Yasin was the former sole director and part-owner of A to Z Catering Solution Pty Limited, which is now in liquidation.
A to Z Catering Solution admitted to underpaying seven employees a total of $24,139 between July 2013 and April 2014.
After a contested hearing, Judge Nicholas Manousaridis found Yasin was directly involved in underpaying five of these employees a total of $8,054.
The Federal Circuit Court also found Yasin was involved in a range of other breaches involving a total of eight employees, including providing false records to Fair Work Inspectors.
A to Z Catering Solution employed the eight employees to work as cooks and waiters at the Rules Club. The employees included a teenager, aged 17, and three aged in their early 20s.
Most of the underpayments were the result of casual employees being paid flat rates of $20 an hour and $10 an hour to a part-time employee, paid below “apprentice rates” despite not being correctly registered as an apprentice.
The flat rates were not sufficient to cover the minimum hourly rates and weekend penalty rates the casual employees were entitled to at the time under the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award.
The casual employees were entitled to receive up to $39 an hour for some hours worked. Superannuation, annual leave and clothing entitlements were also underpaid and there was a failure to provide staff with Fair Work Information Statements and pay slips.
Yasin was also involved in breaching workplace laws by knowingly providing false records to Fair Work inspectors and in systematic record-keeping failures that impeded inspectors in determining amounts owed to employees.
A to Z Catering back-paid the workers in full after the Fair Work Ombudsman commenced legal proceedings.
Image credit: Visit NSW