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The court said “substantial” penalties were necessary after the brother and sister duo “deliberately” underpaid staff at The Noshery Cafe in Glebe.
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Sydney cafe fined $124k for underpaying casuals
18 December 2023
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The Federal Circuit and Family Court has fined a cafe in the inner Sydney suburb of Glebe $124,275 for underpaying casual staff wages and failing to comply with FWO compliance notices.
The court fined More Than Skin Pty Ltd $99,900 as The Noshery Cafe’s operator and fined the brother and sister duo that ran the cafe $24,375.
Judge Sophie Given said the company and the Stojcevski siblings as its co-directors had “shown no contrition nor taken any responsibility for their conduct”, described as “deliberate … not the result of oversight or any other mistake”.
She also found that Ms Stojcevski was “deliberately uncooperative” during her dealings with the FWO, imposing a penalty of $20,379.60 on her and $3,996 against her brother.
In 2021, a Fair Work inspector investigated the cafe on Glebe Point Road after its kitchen and waitstaff made complaints about suspected underpayments.
Three compliance notices were issued between March and May after the inspector “formed a belief” that Mr and Ms Stojcevski withheld minimum casual wage and penalty entitlements from staff, including two international students and a working holiday visa holder.
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They also failed to provide payslips to two of the workers.
“The failure to comply with the compliance notices and to issue payslips was done in conscious disregard for the company's obligations as an employer and that the involvement of the individual respondents was equally deliberate and indifferent despite those obligations,” Ms Given said.
Ms Given said they had not paid the workers two years after the compliance notices were issued, and there was a need to impose “substantial” penalties to deter them and others from similar future conduct.
“Employers in the cafe and restaurant industry should recognise the significant detriment which will result by failing to comply with their obligations,” she said.
“Employers ignore the FWO, and moreover the orders of the court, at their peril.”
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said business operators that failed to act on compliance notices needed to be aware they could face penalties in court on top of having to back-pay workers.
“When compliance notices are not followed, we will continue to take legal action. Employers who fail to act on these notices risk substantial penalties and back-pay orders,” she said.
“Employers also need to be aware that taking action to protect visa holders and improve compliance in the fast food, restaurant and cafe sector are among our top priorities.”
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