Federal Court action case seeks to recover late and unpaid wages for educators

A Federal Circuit Court action case lodged by the United Workers Union (UWU) seeks to recover payments for educators across five states.

The UWU recently lodged court action against early childhood and care provider Genius Early Learning, seeking to recover payments for educators who are owed an estimated $7 million in unpaid superannuation.

The company, which operates 39 centres in all mainland states and the ACT with about 850 employees, is already facing strife as mass resignations due to late-paid or unpaid wages have led to centres in the ACT shutting down.

“Members backed by United Workers Union are taking court action to fight for unpaid super and late wages, and this will stand as a test case for hundreds of other workers at Genius,” said UWU national president Jo Schofield.

“It’s about a company breaching its most basic legal duties to the workers who keep their doors open.”

According to the UWU, the court action seeks to claim compensation for unpaid superannuation, late wage payments and financial penalties for breaches of the Fair Work Act on behalf of early educators in Victoria and Queensland.

These fines are across six alleged breaches, worth up to $18 million against Genius Education group and two subsidiaries and almost $1.2 million against its sole director, Darren Misquitta.

The UWU claimed that businesses owned by Misquitta have a history of contraventions, with a reported $9 million rent bill being chased up by a landlord who previously dealt with Misquitta.

“Every fortnight, our pay was late. It was supposed to be in our accounts Friday but was usually Monday and sometimes Tuesday,” said Queensland early educator Felicity, who worked for Genius.

“My mortgage payment is due Monday, and I was always worried. I’ve had payments dishonoured. The churn of educators starting and leaving the centre was terrible. There was a constant cycle of new educators starting because they didn’t know what it was like. It affected the children, new faces all the time, losing connections with the people they knew.”

“I’d tell a new educator to run a mile from Genius. They forget we’re people, too, with bills to pay, kids to get through school. I understand it’s a business, but without education and educators, it’s not a business.”

Schofield labelled the company as “cowboys” in how it handled its businesses, which often delivers terrible results for workers and the families that trust them with their children.

“The issue we see with cowboys like Genius in early childhood education and care is that there are poor outcomes for families, children and early educators,” said Schofield.

“Clearly a for-profit company that is failing to meet the most basic legal requirements towards early educators is incapable of offering the environments that families and children deserve in a quality early childhood education and care setting.”

“This is why we have repeatedly called for universal care in the early years, to provide the best possible framework for children and families to experience the benefits of early learning.”