A Ballarat cleaning business owner has been fined for refusing to pay her workers on time.
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Kerryn Elizabeth Ainley, who operates the 'The Cleaning Fairy', was taken to court by the Fair Work Ombudsman after owing the four cleaners $18,603 - in casual loading - over an 18-month period.
Ms Ainley breached the Fair Work Act by failing to comply with a compliance notice which required her to calculate and back-pay the workers who had contacted the national employers' rights watchdog.
Ms Ainley back-paid the workers eventually but only after legal action had started.
In a press release, the Fair Work Ombudsman said the compliance notice issued in November 2019 was not fully complied with until about the day of the penalty hearing, in December 2020.
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"We make every effort to secure voluntary compliance with compliance notices but where they are not followed, we are prepared to take legal action to ensure workers receive all their lawful entitlements," Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said.
"Any employees with concerns about their pay or entitlements should contact us for free advice and assistance."
Judge Heather Riley said it was "fundamental that employers must pay their employees their minimum entitlements".
"The scourge of the underpayment of low skilled employees, who are not paid very much even when paid correctly, must be overcome," she said.
"The breach of the compliance notice was deliberate, in the sense that the respondent was well aware that she had been issued with the compliance notice, it required her to do certain things, and she did not do them."
The Cleaning Fairy, which specialises in home cleaning with chemical-free products, has been missing in action on Facebook since February, 2015.
Ms Ainley was fined $1250.
Employers and employees seeking assistance can visit www.fairwork.gov.au or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94. An interpreter service is available on 13 14 50. Know a workplace not doing the right thing but don't want to get involved? Report it anonymously - in your language.
