A successful prosecution in the Industrial Magistrate's Court yesterday illustrates how the award system is necessary as a safety net for workers, Productivity and Labour Relations Minister Yvonne Henderson said today.
A cleaning contractor was fined $7,000 by the Industrial Magistrate's Court in Perth and ordered to pay a further $6,960 in award entitlements to three employees.
Salvatore Massara, of no fixed address, was convicted by the Court of 28 award breaches.
Mrs Henderson said Massara had employed an overseas student seven-days-a-week over more than two months from December last year but had paid him only $300.
"He was employed to clean the Beechboro shopping centre and under the terms of the Contract Cleaning Award, the student was entitled to be paid $5,092 for the hours he worked," Mrs Henderson said.
"Even the $300 was paid only after the student contacted the Department of Productivity and Labour Relations and informed Massara he was considering lodging a formal complaint.
"Unfortunately, $300 was all that was ever provided and the student proceeded with the complaint which has now secured an order by the magistrate for payment of the remaining $4,792 plus fines."
The magistrate also ordered Massarra to pay $2,168 in back-wages to a man and a woman who were employed earlier this year to clean Valentino's Cafe and the Dual Control Club, both in Northbridge.
The 28 award breaches committed by the contractor included failure to pay wages for ordinary hours, failure to pay allowances for weekend and shift work and failure to pay public holiday rates, annual leave and pay in-lieu-of-notice.
Mrs Henderson said that if awards were scrapped as is happening in Victoria, unscrupulous employers could force employees to sign individual contracts with low pay and bad conditions.
Employees with little negotiating ability, such as students and cleaners, would be forced to sign or get the sack.
