A Queensland bus driver has picked-up more than $5000 in back-payments
March 19, 2012
A
Queensland bus driver has been back-paid $5800 for underpaid long-service leave entitlements on termination.
A Fair Work spokesperson
declined to name the
Morayfield bus driver’s employer.
“Where the employer has gone and voluntarily back-paid the payment, we don’t name the employer,” he says.
“It is only when we take the employer to court that we do name the employer.”
“In this case, they have voluntarily back-paid the worker once we made them aware of the error they had made, and they did that of their own will, and we won’t be taking any further action.”
But the spokesperson says back-payments in the bus and coach industry weren’t uncommon.
“We do have a number of people in the transport industry that do get back-paid,” he says.
Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson says
when Fair Work inspectors identify a problem and contact a business, most employers check their records, realise a problem has occurred, and fix it immediately.
“It’s a fact that some businesses inadvertently breach workplace laws,” he says.
“When we find mistakes, we’re here to assist and give practical advice to employers on how to voluntarily fix them.”
The Fair Work Ombudsman recovered a total of $6.082 million in back-pay for 5142 underpaid workers in the Queensland last financial year.
Nationally, the Agency recouped $26.7 million for 17,360 employees.
Workers or employers seeking support should get in touch with the Fair Work Ombudsman via the website – www.fairwork.gov.au – or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94.
The website has a number of tools and resources, including PayCheck Plus and an Award Finder, to assist business-owners to calculate the correct pay for their employees.