‘Serious and deliberate disregard’ for obligations sees childcare centre fined

The operators of a Sydney-based childcare centre have been hit with penalties for disregarding their obligations under the Fair Work Act.

The Federal Circuit and Family Court (FCFCOA) has handed down a $28,875 penalty against The Ella Group (NSW), which operates Funtime Childcare in Greenacre, as well as a $5,775 penalty against the company’s sole director, Louise Ramona Yaacoubian.

The penalties were imposed in response to The Ella Group failing to comply with a compliance notice, which required it to calculate and back pay a young worker’s entitlements, Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) said in a statement. Yaacoubian was involved in the contravention, the ombudsman said.

In total, the FWO secured $34,650 in penalties imposed by the court, with Judge Sophie Given criticising the operators for their serious and deliberate disregard for their obligations under the Fair Work Act.

In Her Honour’s judgment, Judge Given found there was a heightened need to impose penalties to deter The Ella Group and Yaacoubian from future breaches because of their “serious and deliberate disregard” for their obligations under the legislation.

Given J said it was also “important that others be deterred from behaving in a similar manner”, and that “the employee has still not received the amount owed to her under the compliance notice, two years and five months after the date for compliance specified”.

A Fair Work inspector had issued a compliance notice to The Ella Group in February 2023 after forming a belief the worker had been underpaid casual minimum wages owed under the Children’s Services Award 2010.

The compliance notice required The Ella Group, FWO continued, to calculate and rectify underpayments to a young worker the company employed as an early childhood educator, aged 19–22 at the time, on a casual basis between November 2019 and April 2022.

The court also ordered The Ella Group to take the actions required by the compliance notice, including calculating and rectifying any underpayments, plus interest and superannuation.

FWO commenced a separate legal action against The Ella Group and Yaacoubian in relation to the same childcare centre earlier this year, which remains before the court.

FWO Anna Booth said companies that failed to act on compliance notices needed to be aware they could face court-imposed penalties on top of having to back pay workers.

“As the judge in this case described, the employee did not receive the amount owed to her under the compliance notice for the duration of her employment, and this took on particular significance as the employee was performing relatively low-paid work,” she said.

“The amount owed under the compliance notice has still not been paid. When compliance notices are not followed, we are prepared to take legal action to ensure workers like this educator receive their full lawful entitlements.

“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 the Fair Work Ombudsman for free assistance.”