$ 200 for 146 hours of work: worker abuse at a Perth restaurant

A Perth restaurant that paid a worker A $ 200 (NZ $ 216) for about 146 hours of work showed “total disregard for its legal obligations,” says the Fair Labor Ombudsman.

Soma Kitchen in Fremantle failed to comply with a compliance notice that required it to calculate and pay back duties due to one of its former employees who submitted a request for assistance last year.

When director Giancarlo Daniele was informed of the ad, he said he was “sitting at my desk in action.”

“I could do it today,” he said.

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Federal Circuit Court Judge Christopher Kendall condemned the response, saying that Daniele and her company had shown “no regrets, took no corrective action” and “demonstrated a lack of cooperation throughout the period in which the FWO he’s been committed to them. “

The court imposed a fine of AU $ 18,270 against the Italian restaurant and a fine of AU $ 3,654 against Daniele.

It also ordered the company to comply with the notice of compliance, including the back payment of the worker’s outstanding rights in full, plus interest.

“We do everything we can to ensure voluntary compliance with compliance notices, but when they are not followed, we are prepared to take legal action to ensure that workers receive their legal rights,” said Labor Ombudsman Justo Sandra Parker.

More than 50 percent of the ombudsman litigation filed in 2018-19 involved companies in the fast food, restaurant and cafeteria industries.

– News.com.au