Donut King facing criminal charges over alleged child employment breaches

Prominent franchise Donut King faces criminal charges in Victoria over alleged child employment breaches.

The owners and operators of Donut King stores in Rosebud Plaza and Berwick are facing a total of 70 criminal charges over alleged breaches of Victoria’s child employment laws in the Magistrates Court.

According to the Wage Inspectorate Victoria, the stores of the Donut franchise, Minto Nominees, trading as Donut King Rosebud Plaza, allegedly committed the following contraventions between 1 January and 6 July 2024.

• Employing three children under the age of 15 without a licence on 30 occasions.

• Failing to ensure the children are supervised by someone with a working with children clearance.

• Failing to provide a rest break of at least 30 minutes after every three hours of work.

• Employing children for longer than three hours per day during a school term.

• Employing children for longer than six hours per day during school holidays.

The watchdog has claimed that each of these contraventions can enlist a maximum penalty of $47,422. The matter has been listed for mention in the Melbourne Magistrates Court on 21 February 2025.

The Wage Inspectorate explained that Victoria’s child employment laws require employers of children under 15 to obtain a licence from the Wage Inspectorate before any work takes place.

“This enables the Wage Inspectorate to check that matters like safety, hours of work, rest breaks and supervision are properly considered before employment starts,” it said.

Child employment laws restrict when businesses can employ children and how long they can work:

• During a school term, children can be employed for a maximum of three hours a day and 12 hours per week.

• During school holidays, children can be employed up to six hours a day and 30 hours a week.

Children must receive a 30-minute rest break after every three hours of work, while workers under 15 must be supervised by someone who holds a valid employee Victorian working with children clearance.

As previously reported on HR Leader, in the past Cold Rock Shepparton, Red Rooster Wodonga, and TK Maxx pleaded guilty to breaking child employment laws.

The child employment breaches were a big focus for the past financial year for the inspector, who conducted over 450 child employment compliance monitoring activities across Victoria, which was a 16 per cent increase from the previous year.

A total of 883 child employment licenses were issued by the Wage Inspectorate during the first year of the scheme. This replaced the permit system and enabled businesses to employ multiple children under one licence.

Kace O'Neill

Kace O'Neill is a Graduate Journalist for HR Leader. Kace studied Media Communications and Maori studies at the University of Otago, he has a passion for sports and storytelling.