The former operator of United Petroleum roadhouse in Marrangaroo has been fined almost $100,000 after the Federal Circuit Court found a parental leave payment of close to $12,000 had been withheld from an employee.
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A $11,538 payment transferred by Centrelink in 2015 to the bank account of Noorpreet Pty Ltd, the company operating the roadhouse, was withheld from a mother who had worked in the roadhouse as a chef.
Kulpreet Singh, the manager of the station, and a shareholder and director of Noorpreet Pty Ltd, admitted to the court he had made a false document showing he paid the parental leave to the woman’s husband.
It is even worse to then embark on conduct in knowingly creating false records and persisting in misleading the employee and relevant authorities.
- Judge Nicholls
Mr Singh has been penalised $19,720 by the court and Noorpreet Pty Ltd fined a further $98,700.
The Fair Work Ombudsman says it is the first legal action against an employer for failing to transfer paid parental leave funds to an employee.
In the judgement delivered on Friday, May 18, in Sydney, Judge Nicholls said Mr Singh “deliberately withheld payment” of his employee’s leave and “deliberately sought to conceal his actions.”
“It is one thing not to pay an employee that to which she is entitled,” he said.
“In my view, it is even worse to then embark on conduct in knowingly creating false records and persisting in misleading the employee and relevant authorities.
“Those circumstances alone call for the highest level of penalty that can be reasonably imposed.”
That Noorpreet Pty Ltd was no longer operating and that Mr Singh was currently not a director or employer at any company did not remove the need for deterrence, Judge Nicholls said.
“Setting an appropriate level of penalty against both respondents would signal disapproval of their conduct and serve as a general deterrent to others in the hospitality industry.”
The company and Mr Singh’s penalties also included fines for further breaches of the Fair Work Act involving failure to provide pay slips and conduct appropriate record keeping.
Centrelink transferred $11,538 to Noorpreet Pty Ltd in April 2015, to be transferred to an employee of the company following the birth of her child.
The woman, who is now an Australian Citizen, was employed on a permanent visa sponsored by Noorpreet Pty Ltd at the time.
In June 2015 she made a complaint to the Department of Human Services that Mr Singh had not paid her parental leave.
Under investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman Mr Singh produced a record in September 2015 that alleged he had already made the payment to the employee’s husband, which the Fair Work Ombudsmen challenged.
Mr Singh made the payment in October 2015, five months after it was first transferred to Noorpreet Pty Ltd.
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