A Perth restaurant and its director are facing more than $35,000 in penalties, with the Fair Work Ombudsman claiming an employee was paid just $212.50 for approximately 146 hours of work.
Soma Kitchen Pty Ltd, which operates Freemantle’s Soma Kitchen, and its company director Giancarlo Daniele, failed to undertake actions set out by an FWO-issued Compliance Notice.
The notice required the business to identify the employee’s status and classification under the Restaurant Industry Award 2010, calculate how much he should have been paid, pay the employee back their unpaid wages and superannuation, and provide evidence to the FWO confirming the employee had been repaid.
The company and Daniele will now face court and could be hit with maximum penalties of $31,500 and $6,300 respectively.
“Under the Fair Work Act, inspectors can issue a compliance notice if they have a reasonable belief that an employer has breached workplace laws. They’re an important tool we use to get underpaid workers back their money,” Parker says.
“We’re taking this action to ensure the affected employee gets the pay and superannuation they earned and deserve.”
A directions hearing has been listed in the Federal Circuit Court for 13 February 2020.