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The ombudsman secured penalties of almost $19,000 against a crane company and seeks $10,000 against a transport firm.
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FWO targets crane and transport businesses
25 January 2023
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The FWO has secured almost $19,000 in penalties against a former crane hire company and has commenced legal action against the former operators of a transport and logistics firm as its crackdown on negligent employee payments picks up.
A former Victorian crane hire company had an $18,700 penalty imposed in court after it was found to have failed to obey a compliance notice requiring it to calculate and back-pay entitlements to a worker employed as an operator between April 2018 and August 2020.
A Fair Work inspector issued the compliance notice to Teds Crane Hire Pty Ltd in March 2021 after forming the belief the worker was not paid accrued but untaken annual leave entitlements as well as payment in lieu of notice of termination entitlements owed under the award.
While imposing the penalty, Judge Catherine Symons found there was a need to deter other employers “from simply ignoring a compliance notice, as (Teds Crane Hire) did in this case.”
“I consider that the silence and inaction maintained by (Teds Crane Hire) in its interactions with the FWO and in the context of this proceeding aggravates the seriousness of the contravention,” said Judge Symons.
As well as the penalty the court ordered the company to take the steps required by the compliance notice, which includes calculating and back-paying the worker’s outstanding entitlements in full, plus interest.
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The ombudsman has also commenced legal action against the former operators of a Queensland transport and logistics firm.
Jatinder Singh Bassi, the sole trader who operated Bassi Group Transport, which provided waste collection and disposal services, along with his wife Satty Bassi, face court for allegedly underpaying a truck driver employed on a part-time basis between June 2019 and February 2020.
A Fair Work investigator formed the belief that the worker was not paid shift-work overtime rates, public holiday base rates, annual leave entitlements, payment in lieu of notice of termination, afternoon and night-shift penalty rates, and penalty rates for weekend and public holiday work.
The FWO alleges that Mr Bassi failed to obey the compliance notice the investigator issued which required him to calculate and back-pay the worker’s entitlements and that Mrs Bassi was also involved in the contravention.
The FWO was seeking penalties in the court of up to $6,660 against Mr Bassi and Mrs Bassi for failing to obey the compliance notice, as well as an order for Mr Bassi to rectify the alleged underpayments in full, plus interest.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker warned business operators that the regulator would take action against those who did not heed issued compliance notices.
“Where employers do not comply, we will take appropriate action to protect employees, a court can order a business to pay penalties in addition to back-paying workers,” she said.
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