Cafe ordered to pay wages to six staff

A café in Warragul has been ordered to pay staff a total of $8749, an amount it underpaid them between July 2015 and November 2016.

The order by the Fair Work Ombudsman relates to six staff, one of them a teenager.

Acting FWO Kristen Hannah said the employees had been incorrectly classified.

The underpayments were detected during a proactive audit by the FWO office and were identified as mistakes rather than deliberate contraventions.

Ms Hannah said it was the first time the Warragul business had come to the agency’s notice.

However, she said it was on notice that that further mistakes could result in serious enforcement action including litigation and the potential for hefty fines.

“Future breaches of workplace laws would not be tolerated,” she said.

A business in Leongatha was also ordered to back pay 13 employees a total of $6027 after failing to pass on award increase.