A sole trader supplying canteen services to Bayside sports clubs has been fined $4000 and placed on a good behaviour bond after pleading guilty to breaking Victoria's child employment laws, including to employing children below the minimum working age, and for shifts of up to 8 hours.
Wage Inspectorate Victoria, the state's child employment regulator, began investigating Kanteen Krew after receiving a tip-off alleging it was employing children under 15 without a licence.
Today, in the Melbourne Magistrates' Court, the owner of the canteen services business pleaded guilty to 23 charges, comprising employing:
- 10 children without a child employment permit or licence on 64 occasions
- 3 children below the minimum working age (13) on 20 occasions
- 10 children for more hours than they are allowed to work during the school term on 56 occasions.
The court heard children worked up to 8-hour days, far exceeding the maximum daily hours a child under 15 can work during the school term, which is 3.
The children were employed to work in canteens at sporting clubs in Brighton and Elsternwick. Their work included cooking, cleaning, making coffee, taking orders and operating and cleaning the barbeque facilities.
The offences took place between 3 June and 10 September 2023.
The defendant was fined $4000 and, with regard to the charges of employing children under 13, was placed on a $1500 good behaviour bond for 2 years.
In sentencing, Her Honour Magistrate McCarthy did not record a conviction, taking into account the early guilty plea and the lack of prior convictions. If not for the early guilty plea, Her Honour said she would have imposed a fine of $10,000.
Quotes attributable to Robert Hortle, Commissioner of Wage Inspectorate Victoria
"Employing kids under 15 appears to be a key aspect of Kanteen Krew's operating model, so it's hard to fathom how it could be operating with disregard for child employment laws – rostering kids for 8 hour shifts and even employing kids under the legal working age."
"A weekend job can be a positive experience, but we can't have kids working up to 8-hour days. They don't have the physical or mental stamina for that. They need time to rest on the weekend to ensure they can focus at school, which must be the priority for kids that age."
"Community members often act as our eyes and ears across the state – they're very protective of kids and they'll let us know if they sense something's not right, as happened in this case."
"Many of us have been served by a kid at a canteen at a local sporting club and probably thought nothing of it. But if the child is under 15, child employment laws may apply – it's something clubs and parents need to be aware of."
Background
Victoria's child employment laws help protect kids under 15 from work that could harm their health or wellbeing. It helps ensure the employer understands workplace risks and has measures in place to help keep young people safe.
A child must be 11 to deliver newspapers and advertising material and 13 to do other types of work, such as in retail and hospitality.
Businesses usually need a child employment licence to employ someone under 15, whether the work is paid or voluntary. Employing a child without a licence is a crime and may be penalised.
Child employment laws restrict when businesses can employ children and how long they can work:
- during a school term, children can be employed for a maximum of 3 hours a day and 12 hours a week
- during school holidays, children can be employed up to 6 hours a day and 30 hours a week
- children can only work between 6am and 9pm.
Children must also receive a 30-minute rest break after every 3 hours work and have at least 12 hours break between shifts.
A prosecution is the Wage Inspectorate's most serious compliance tool and decisions to take legal action are made in line with its Compliance and Enforcement Policy.
