Seven Melbourne workers will be repaid more than $100,000 after the Fair Work Ombudsman executed an enforceable undertaking with Transfab Reinforcement Australia Pty Ltd, a manufacturing company which prepares prefabricated housing materials.
It was revealed in the investigation that the company underpaid seven of its workers, which amounted to $103,918, between March 2015 and September of last year. The Fair Work Ombudsman began investigation after receiving requests for assistance from the workers last year.
The workers were all of Indian background and most spoke limited English; several of them were visa holders, including two international students. They were employed to bend and weld steel on a production line. Six of the workers were engaged as full-time or casual factory hands, with the other a qualified welder.
The workers were paid flat hourly rates of generally between $18 and $22. However, under the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2010, they were variously entitled to higher rates for ordinary hours, casual loading, regular shift work, and Saturday and overtime hours, among other entitlements.
For instance, the worker with the largest individual underpayment of $33,454, an international student who worked as a factory hand, was entitled to hourly rates of up to $20.94 for afternoon or night shifts, up to $27.32 on Saturdays, up to $36.42 for some overtime hours and up to $45.53 on public holidays.
Transfab also failed to pay workers’ full annual leave entitlements and to keep all necessary employment records, including of hours worked.
The company cooperated fully with the investigation and rectified all underpayments. At the same time, the Fair Work Ombudsman has executed an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the company whereby Transfab admits to contraventions of the law and must take rectification action.
In addition to repaying the workers, the EU requires Transfab to make a $5000 donation to community workplace law centre Job Watch. It must also provide a letter of apology to the workers and display notices detailing the company’s breaches in the workplace and on the company’s website.
The company must also commission professional audits of its compliance with workplace laws across the next three years and rectify any breaches; provide staff training on workplace laws; register with the Fair Work Ombudsman’s online My Account portal and develop processes for future compliance.
Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Kristen Hannah said an EU was the appropriate enforcement tool as an alternative to litigation, given the company’s cooperation, lack of any previous non-compliance issues with the agency, and its proactive and full back-payments.
“EUs have allowed us to achieve strong outcomes against companies that breach workplace laws without the need for civil court proceedings, which require a greater investment of taxpayer resources and can significantly extend the time it takes for workers to receive their entitlements,” Hannah said. “These are vulnerable workers and executing an EU with Transfab means we could get their money into their pockets where it belongs as soon as possible.
“Breaching the terms of an EU is grounds for litigation and the community can be assured that we will be monitoring Transfab to ensure they comply with the terms of this undertaking,” Hannah concluded.
