My business is too small to worry about.
It is amazing how many times this crops up when we first visit a business to discuss payments and entitlements that may or may not be due to employees.
To be fair, it is not usually said directly, but it becomes apparent in the attitude of the business owner when we start to delve into the way that wages and salaries are paid, recorded, and calculated.
So, with the aim of keeping businesses out of trouble and staff happy in their workplace, we thought it might be worthwhile to throw a few recent cases into the discussion so all business owners can see that this can be a very serious matter and can become very costly if left unattended.
We should add, at this point, that these cases come via the auspices of the Fair Work Ombudsman and can be found in their list of media releases for July 2021
The REALLY important thing to note here is that each one of these cases is against the Sole Trader or Sole Director of the business
Furniture Removalist Faces Court
After receiving enquiries from former employees of a small furniture removal business in Queensland concerning the amount they were being paid, a Fair Work Inspector issued two Compliance Notices to the business after forming the view that they had been underpaid.
The owner of the business did not take reasonable action to address the notices and the matter has proceeded to court action.The owner of the business now faces a fine of $6,660.00 per failure to comply.
Plumbing Business Operator Faces Court
The Sole Trader of a plumbing and air-conditioning business was issued a compliance notice when a former worker, aged 18 at the time of the complaint, queried the FWO about how much he was being paid.
The owner of the business did not take reasonable action to address the notice and the matter has proceeded to court action. The owner of the business now faces a fine of $6,660.00 per failure to comply.
Beauty Business In Court
The regulator investigated after receiving requests for assistance from two former workers who had been employed on a full-time basis as a receptionist and a beauty therapist respectively.
Matters involved in these cases related to payment of below minimum wages, payment of annual leave entitlements and payment in lieu of termination of employment. The Business did not take appropriate steps to comply with the notices issued, and the matter has proceeded to court action.
The company now faces fines of up to $33,300.00 per breach and the Sole Director is facing penalties of up to $6,300.00
Wrong – It Can Very Easily Happen to Any Business That Employs Staff!
Each one of these cases relates to a business that is owned by a Sole Trader or has a Sole Director. These are not big businesses, but it seems that they are businesses that did not get their policies and procedures in place to make sure that they complied with the law. And it is worth noting that the Law can change almost without you knowing.
At Assurance HR we keep up with those changes and our aim is to ensure that it doesn’t happen to you.
We can organise things so that, from hiring a new staff member to dismissing one when required, your business takes all the necessary steps to get it absolutely right.
If you are unsure about any of this, or need immediate advice on how best to proceed, call us today on 1800 577 515 or book an appointment by clicking the link below.
https://calendly.com/adrian-ahr/book-a-15-minute-chat-with-our-principal
