A fast food worker in Newcastle has been backpaid $15,000 after seeking assistance from the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The employee, aged in her 20s, had worked at the business for 12 years before her employment ended last year.
When she failed to received outstanding entitlements including accrued annual leave and long service leave, the employee contacted Fair Work.
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, Natalie James, the employer cooperated with the agency and promptly rectified the matter.
“It is the responsibility of employers to ensure they pay employees their full termination entitlements when the employment relationship ends,” James said.
“Paying workers correctly on termination is just as important as ensuring they receive their full entitlements throughout their employment.”
Earlier this week, Fair Work announced that casual cooks, kitchen hands, grounds people, cleaners and food and beverage attendants at a hospitality business in Whyalla have been underpaid almost $8,000 with the agency finding they’d been short-changed their minimum hourly rates.
The news came just days after yet another announcement from Fair Work, revealing that hospitality staff in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula had been packpaid $22,000. The two employees – one a waitress and restaurant supervisor at a local winery, and the other a barista at a local caf – were both paid a flat hourly rate which didn’t cover the penalty rates they were entitled to.
