A Sydney wedding dress company has been ordered to back-pay $21,604, plus superannuation and interest, owing to four workers. The federal court also imposed a $30,000 penalty on 10 Foster St Pty Ltd, formerly known as George Elsissa Pty Ltd, which operated a design studio and bridal store in Leichhardt, in Sydney’s inner west.
The Fair Work Ombudsman announced the court orders on Tuesday, after claiming the company had ignored a compliance notice requiring it to calculate and back pay entitlements to four employees it said were underpaid between 2015 and 2021. Two of the employees were young workers, aged 23 to 25 years at the time of their employment. The affected employees — who had worked both full-time and part-time in administration and marketing and design roles, including a pattern maker, draper, and a design and sales assistant — had reached out to the FWO for help. FWO said its inspector formed “a belief the workers were not paid accrued but untaken annual leave entitlements at the end of their employment” and issued a compliance notice to the company in May 2022. “The inspector formed a belief that one of the workers was also not paid payment in lieu of notice of termination entitlements when her employment ended,” FWO said. The case ultimately ended up in the Federal Circuit and Family Court, which imposed the back-pay and penalty orders. Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said employers that fail to act on compliance notices need to be aware they can face substantial 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,” Booth said. “Employers who fail to act on these notices risk significant penalties and back-pay orders. “Employers also need to be aware that taking action to protect young workers is among our top priorities. “Any employees with concerns about their pay or entitlements should contact us for free advice and assistanc