The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured $12,787 in penalties in court against the operators of a cleaning business based in Campsie, Sydney.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court imposed penalties of $10,656 against Dynamics Clean Services Pty Ltd and $2,131 against its sole director Alan Avalos.
The penalties were imposed in response to Dynamics Clean Services failing to comply with a Compliance Notice requiring the back-payment of entitlements owed to a Nepalese casual cleaner who was not paid anything for about a week's work. Mr Avalos was involved in the contravention.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said business operators that fail to act on Compliance Notices need to be aware they can face court-imposed penalties on top of having to back-pay workers.
"When Compliance Notices are not followed, we are prepared to take legal action to ensure workers receive their lawful entitlements," Ms Parker said.
"Employers also need to be aware that taking action to improve compliance in the contract cleaning sector continues to be a priority for the FWO. Any employees with concerns about their pay or entitlements should contact us for free advice and assistance."
The regulator investigated after receiving a request for assistance from the cleaner who was employed at Dynamics Clean Services for about a week in October 2020.
A Fair Work Inspector issued a Compliance Notice to Dynamics Clean Services in February 2021 after forming a belief that the worker had not been paid entitlements owed under the Cleaning Services Award 2020, including the casual minimum wage and casual weekend penalty rates.
Dynamics Clean Services admitted failing to comply with the Compliance Notice and Mr Avalos admitted he was involved in the breach. The notice required the company to calculate and back-pay the worker's outstanding entitlements plus superannuation by March 2021.
In imposing the penalties, Judge Nicholas Manousaridis cited Judge Michael Jarrett in Fair Work Ombudsman v VS Investment Group Pty Ltd: "The failure to comply with a notice properly issued by the applicant in the course of its investigations and the discharge of its statutory functions is serious. Recipients of such notices should be left under no misapprehension about their obligations to comply with those notices."
In May 2021, Dynamics Clean Services back-paid $217.90 of the $826.40 owed to the deceased employee's bank account to which her executors have access. The remaining $608.50 was paid in September 2021.
