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Article

10 Aug 2017

Author:
Alexander Millman & Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal (Australia)

‘Deliberately ignoring’ Ombudsman warnings results in record penalty

...Judge Burchardt of the Federal Circuit Court in Melbourne found that MHoney Pty Ltd and its director, Mr Abdulrahman Taleb, had deliberately engaged in multiple serious and deliberate contraventions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) by failing to pay an employee, Mr Jamal Kazemi, in accordance with the General Retail Industry Award 2010 (the Retail Award)...Mr Kazemi...first worked for the respondent employer (a Melbourne fruit market owner) in early 2012...For the first three weeks of his employment, Mr Kazemi was not paid any wages...[H]e was told that his wages were withheld as a ‘bond’ to pay for any damage he may cause in his employment... Mr Kazemi was never allowed to take rest or meal breaks, being told that the store was too busy to allow for them...Mr Kamezi returned to work for the respondent employer in December 2012, under the same terms and conditions of employment.  However, Mr Kazemi was not paid the full amount of his wages under that arrangement during this second period of employment...Mr Kazemi’s complaint to the Ombudsman alleged that he was owed $7,200...This underpayment arose out of multiple breaches of the Retail Award and the Fair Work Act...The breaches included the failure to pay penalty rates, overtime, and superannuation, the failure to pay annual leave on termination of employment, and the failure to keep compliant records...

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