'Employers who fail to act on these notices risk substantial penalties and back-payment orders'
The operator of a disability services business in New South Wales has been penalised again after failing to comply with a compliance notice issued by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO).
Kristy Leanne Tate, the sole trader behind Kreating Real Change Disability Services in Crookwell, was fined $7,012 by the Federal Circuit and Family Court for failing to pay two employees the wages they were owed.
The workers, who were a married couple, were employed in full-time home care roles between June 2020 and September 2022.
The FWO inspector found the workers were underpaid for a variety of entitlements under the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010, including minimum wages, overtime, annual leave, and public holiday pay.
One of the workers was also underpaid for afternoon shift loading, while the other worker was shortchanged for night shift loading and sleepover allowances.
A compliance notice issued by the FWO in December 2022 required Tate to back-pay the workers a total of $13,878, plus superannuation and interest.
But Judge Nicholas Manousaridis, who imposed the penalty, found that Tate had ignored the compliance notice.
He also remarked that Tate had been aware of the underpayment following text messages from the workers demanding payment but failed to act upon it.
"The evidence shows, and I find, that Ms Tate was aware the employees were owed money because they sent text messages to her demanding payment of their wages to which Ms Tate responded, but Ms Tate did not pay the amounts owing to the employees," Manousaridis said.
This is the second time that Tate has been penalised for failing to comply with a FWO notice. In July 2023, the FWO secured penalties against her for not calculating and back-paying entitlements to two young workers.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth expressed disappointment over the repeated non-compliance, highlighting the regulator's commitment to taking action against employers who disregard workplace laws.
"It is disappointing that we have had to take legal action again against Ms Tate for her failure to comply with another Compliance Notice," Booth said in a statement. "Employers who fail to act on these notices risk substantial penalties and back-payment orders."
