A number of workers in Melbourne have been back-paid following recent intervention by the Fair Work Ombudsman. The largest recovery was for four young casual waitresses at a café who were underpaid a total of $13,000.
After buying the café, the owner continued the previous employer’s practice of paying flat rates, rather than checking the wage rates applicable to the business. As a result, the new owner had to back pay the employees for the entire time they were underpaid, and received a fine for their conduct.
When you are looking to take over or business or if you have recently taken over a business, a HR Audit of wages and conditions is crucial. You can never make the assumption that staff are being paid correctly, or that the previous business owners were following legislation correctly.