27 companies, a suspended prison sentence, and not a dollar paid back
A Melbourne finance company and its manager have been penalised nearly $280,000 for systematically exploiting vulnerable workers - the third time the pair have been dragged before the courts by Australia's workplace regulator.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court ordered ANSA Finance Pty Ltd to pay $233,100, and its manager to pay $46,620, on October 7, for breaches of the Fair Work Act 2009 that the court found were "serious, systematic and deliberate."
Neither showed up.
The company did not participate in the proceedings at all. On the morning of the penalty hearing in August, the manager emailed the court to say he would not be attending. No evidence, no submissions, no apology.
The case centred on three workers employed between late 2021 and mid-2022 under the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award 2020. Two were visa holders - one on a temporary graduate visa, the other on a student visa. The third was 20 years old.
Together, they were shortchanged $23,933.81. One worker lost $13,105.11, another $6,914.17, the third $2,606.95. The court noted that even smaller amounts were "far from trifling" for award-reliant workers. More than four years on, none of them had been paid.
The shortfalls covered minimum wages, annual leave, personal leave, public holidays, notice pay on termination, leave loading, and superannuation.
Then there was the retaliation.
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