A total of $303,299 was recovered for the workers
More than 1,000 workers hired to provide security at COVID-19 quarantine hotels in Melbourne and Sydney were discovered to have been underpaid by their employers, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO). A total of 1,010 workers, who were security guards or supervisors, were underpaid with a cumulative amount of over $1 million, according to media notice on Friday.
Fair Work Inspectors found that 15 security companies out of 37 audited ones in Sydney and Melbourne were non-compliant to workplace laws, with either underpaying their workers, failing to meet pay slip and record-keeping requirements, or failing to comply with a Notice to Produce records.
Following the breaches, the FWO issued 10 Compliance Notices to help recover the money that was underpaid to the employees.
The agency said it has recovered $303,299 for 1,010 underpaid workers, including $288,938 for 665 employees in Melbourne and $14,361 for 345 workers in Sydney.
Read more: Underpayments – Don't become a headline!
One Compliance Notice recipient, Unified Security Group Australia, was a principal contractor in the hotel quarantine programmes in Victoria and New South Wales. The firm admitted that the company owed unpaid entitlements to staff in Sydney.
In total, Unified said its unpaid entitlements reached around $900,000, but it can no longer comply to the request for backpay because it went into liquidation in May this year.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said the results showed that the security industry needs to focus on employment responsibilities.
"We expect all businesses at all levels of a supply chain to meet their obligations under workplace laws so that workers are paid the wages and entitlements they are lawfully owed," Parker said in a statement.
Non-compliant businesses were also warned that higher-level action could be taken against them for any breaches in the future.
