Sydney builder pulled up for back-payment failures
A south-west Sydney building and construction firm reportedly failed to back-pay a 15-year-old worker or act on the ensuing compliance notice.
The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has secured a total of $6,664 in penalty and backpay orders from Humza Moussa – the operator of the Leppington-based residential and construction business Xteria Designs – after he reportedly “failed to back-pay a 15-year-old worker”.
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The Federal and Family Court levelled a $5,328 penalty against Moussa after he failed to act in accordance with a compliance notice which required him to “calculate and back-pay entitlements to a worker he employed as a labourer between November 2021 and January 2022”.
In addition to this penalty, the court also ordered Moussa to back-pay the worker $1,336, plus superannuation and interest.
Commenting on this outcome, Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth cautioned that “business operators that fail to act on compliance notices need to be aware they can face penalties in court on top of having to back-pay workers”.
“When compliance notices are not followed, we will continue to take legal action to protect employees. Employers who fail to act on these notices risk substantial penalties and backpay orders,” Booth stated.
This incident was brought to the regulator’s attention after the affected worker – aged 15 at the time – requested assistance from the FWO.
After further investigation, a Fair Work inspector then issued a compliance notice to Moussa in August 2022 after forming a belief that the worker was “owed entitlements under the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020”.
With Moussa operating Xteria Designs as a sole trader during the relevant period, the inspector’s decision was founded on the belief that the operator “did not pay the worker any wages for the final two weeks of work he performed, resulting in the underpayment of his casual minimum wage, casual loading and industry allowances”.
Booth declared that “improving compliance in the building and construction industry and protecting young workers are among our top priorities”.
“Any employees with concerns about their pay or entitlements should contact us for free advice and assistance,” she concluded.