The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured $68,440 in penalties in court against the operators of a hair salon at Erina, in the Central Coast region of New South Wales.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court has imposed a $55,440 penalty against My Salon Erina Pty Ltd, which operates at the Erina Fair shopping centre, and an additional $13,000 penalty against the company’s manager, Nelvin Nitesh Lal.
The penalties were imposed in response to the company breaching the Fair Work Act by failing to comply with a Compliance Notice requiring it to back-pay a teenage worker and failing to issue pay slips to the worker. Mr Lal was involved in the breaches.
The Court has also ordered My Salon Erina Pty Ltd take the action required by the Compliance Notice, including back-paying the worker in full, plus superannuation.
The underpayment occurred despite Mr Lal and other companies he has operated having been previously penalised in Court following legal action by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said any employer who continues to contravene after having been put on notice should expect to face compliance action.
“Business operators that fail to act on Compliance Notices need to be aware that we are prepared to take legal action, which can result in court-imposed penalties on top of having to back-pay workers.
“Any employees with concerns about their pay or entitlements should contact us for free advice and assistance,” Ms Parker said.
The Fair Work Ombudsman investigated My Salon Erina Pty Ltd after receiving a request for assistance from a worker who had been employed as a first-year hairdressing apprentice at the salon between October 2019 and May 2020. She was aged 17 at the start of the employment period.
A Fair Work Inspector issued a Compliance Notice to the company in October 2020 after forming a belief the employee was underpaid minimum rates, overtime loading and Saturday penalty rates under the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2010.
Judge Robert Cameron found that the contraventions were serious and that Mr Lal and his company had failed to co-operate with the Fair Work Ombudsman or express contrition.
Judge Cameron said the respondents’ conduct did not fill him with confidence that they treated the proceedings seriously or that that they intended to behave differently in the future.
Judge Cameron said there was a need to impose penalties to deter Mr Lal from further contraventions and to “discourage others from conducting themselves as the respondents have in this case”.
In 2016, Mr Lal’s former company The House of Color @ Tuggerah Pty Ltd, which operated a hairdressing salon at the Westfield Shopping Centre in Tuggerah NSW, was penalised $23,500 for failing to comply with Compliance Notices requiring the back-payment of three employees.
In 2015, $162,000 in penalties were imposed against Mr Lal and three hairdressing salons he formerly operated for breaches including underpaying four employees more than $6000.
Employers and employees can visit www.fairwork.gov.au or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94 for free advice and assistance about their rights and obligations in the workplace.
