Spotless entities plead guilty to long service leave underpayments

Two Spotless entities have pleaded guilty in court for failing to pay four employees' more than $4,000 of long service leave entitlements.

Spotless Facility Services pleaded guilty to underpaying three casual employees a total of $2,276 in outstanding service leave entitlements when their employment ended, according to the Wage Inspectorate Victoria.

Spotless Services Australia also pleaded guilty to failing to pay a casual employee their long service leave entitlement worth $2,201 at the end of their termination.

The offences were committed between October 2020 and May 2023, according to the Wage Inspectorate Victoria.

As a result, Magistrate Kieran Gilligan sentenced the Spotless entities to an adjourned undertaking to be of good behaviour for six months. They were ordered to pay $4,000 in charitable donations to the Salvation Army, where Spotless Facility Services will pay $3,000 and Spotless Services Australia will pay $1,000.

Spotless Facility Services will also be paying $8,000 in costs, according to the magistrate's sentence.

Long Service Leave Act

Robert Hortle, commissioner of Wage Inspectorate Victoria, said the case highlights a "poorly understood element of Victoria's long service leave laws."

Under Victoria's Long Service Leave Act 2018, employers are mandated to pay an employee their long service leave on their final day of employment if they worked continuously for one employer for at least seven years.

This applies to full-time, part-time, casual, seasonal, and fixed term staff, according to the law.

"Staff must be paid any long service leave entitlement on the day their employment ends. The money can be a crucial lifeline that helps people meet living costs while they look for a new job," Hortle said in a statement.