Convenience stores facing court over underpayments

HONG KONG, CHINA – CIRCA JANUARY, 2019: interior shot of 7-eleven convenience store in Hong Kong.

The former operators of two Adelaide convenience stores are set to appear before the Federal Circuit Court for alleged breaches to the Fair Work Act. The operators City Convenience Stors in Adelaide until late last year – 3 Rundle Mall Pty Ltd and 132 Grenfell Street Convenience Pty Ltd and their sole director, Ethan Okili – allegedly failed to comply with Compliance Notices requiring that they to calculate and back-pay outstanding amounts owing to employees.

The Fair Work Ombudsman also alleges that the respondents failed to comply with Notices to Produce records issued by an inspector and failed to issue payslips, a violation of the Fair Work Act.

The Compliance Notices were issued last year after a Fair Work inspector found that the employees had been underpaid minimum hourly wage rates, overtime rates and penalty rates for weekend, evening and public holiday work under the General Retail Industry Award 2010 for work performed between November 2018 and August 2019.

Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said that the FWO will enforce workplace laws in a proportionate manner during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that includes continuing to take businesses to court in the event of their non-compliance with lawful requests.

“Under the Fair Work Act, Notices to Produce and Compliance Notices are important tools used by inspectors if they form a belief that an employer has breached workplace laws,” Parker said. “Where employers do not comply with our notices, we will take appropriate action to protect employees. A court can then order them to pay penalties in addition to back-paying workers.”

The companies, summonsed to a directions hearing in the Federal Circuit Court in Adelaide on 4 August, could be fined up to $63,000 per contravention, and Okili a maximum of $12,600 per contravention. The FWO will seek a Court Order requiring that they rectify the underpayments in full, including superannuation contributions and any interest accrued.