A former Melbourne cafe operator is facing court after the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) commenced legal action against him for allegedly underpaying staff.
Adam Lachlan Wilkinson, as trustee for the Wilko Family Trust, previously operated Grange Road Egg Shop in Toorak.
The regulator investigated the entitlements of 10 casual and full-time workers Wilkinson employed at his cafe between November 2020 and February 2022. Five of those workers were aged between 19 and 24 at the time.
In September 2023, a Fair Work inspector issued a compliance notice to Wilkinson, after it was believed he had not fully paid the workers minimum wage rates, overtime entitlements, and penalty rates for weekend and public holiday work.
The inspector also formed a belief that one of the workers was not paid personal leave during her employment, or accrued but untaken annual leave entitlements at the end of her employment.
The cafe has since closed.
The FWO alleges Wilkinson, without a reasonable excuse, failed to comply with the compliance notice, which required him to calculate and back-pay the workers’ outstanding minimum entitlements.
It is also alleged he breached the Fair Work Act by issuing false and misleading pay slips to one worker and failing to issue three of the workers with pay slips during their employment.
The FWO is seeking penalties in court. For the alleged failure to comply with the compliance notice, Wilkinson faces a penalty of up to $9390. For the alleged pay slip breaches, Wilkinson faces penalties of up to $13,320 per breach.
The regulator is also seeking an order requiring Wilkinson to comply with the compliance notice, by rectifying any amount owed under the notice in full including superannuation, and pay interest on that amount.
Under the Restaurant Industry Award 2020, as well as the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards, the entitlements were owed to the employees as cooks, food and beverage attendants, and introductory level employees.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth says taking action to improve compliance in the fast food, restaurants and cafes, sector, as well as protecting young workers are priorities for the regulator.
“The Fair Work Ombudsman treats alleged breaches of workplace laws involving young workers particularly seriously because we are aware they can be vulnerable, as they are often unaware of their rights, heavily reliant on their employers or reluctant to complain,” Booth says.
She says FWO will take employers to court where lawful requests and pay slip laws are not complied with.
“Allegedly providing false or misleading pay slips is unacceptable. Pay slips provide employees with the clarity they need about their pay, and we expect every employer to follow laws requiring them to provide accurate pay slips to their employees within one business day of them being paid.”
A directions hearing is listed in the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Melbourne on Monday 17 November 2025.
Photo provided by Pexels.
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Maia Hart
