Developing a ‘culture of compliance’

JEFF Rogut
CEO AACS
As the new year approaches it is critical that all operators in our industry step up, and ensure that their businesses develop an ongoing culture of compliance. It is totally unacceptable to those who work in our industry to read week after week articles about operators that have not done the right thing by their employees, either alleged or proven. As the article below demonstrates, the loss of reputation to people and brands as well as financial penalties can be crippling and the actions of a few tarnish the good work done every hour and day by the many thousands of people who do the right thing, both legally and morally.
2016 must see an improvement in compliance within our industry. Use the resources of FairWork and other bodies if you are in any doubt about your responsibilities to your employees.
If you need to find a resource feel free to contact me and I will try to point you in the right direction as to where to obtain advice. The Convenience industry is one that has terrific brands and many thousands of innovative and industrious people.
We should be setting the high benchmark for others to follow, rather than being put up as examples of poor practice.
A culture of compliance, rather than avoidance, will be critical to our / your future success.
Petrol station staff exploited for $10 an hour
December 9, 2015
Nick Toscano
Workplace Reporter for The Age
The operators of a BP service station in Melbourne have illegally underpaid two workers more than $100,000 in a new wage exploitation case to become public.
At BP Berwick in the city’s outer east, the two Indian console operators were given flat rates of as little as $10 an hour, well below the minimum wage.
They were also denied casual loadings and penalty rates for overtime, weekend and public holiday work.
“It was very hard to survive when I was getting paid $10 to $14 an hour,” one of the workers, Sukhpal Singh, said in an affidavit.
“At times, we would have to borrow money just to pay the rent at the end of the month.”
Investigations by Australia’s Fair Work Ombudsman led to the service station operator, Liquid Fuel, back-paying the pair more than $53,000 each, for underpayments spanning 2008-2012
And it has now been fined more than $92,000 in the Federal Circuit Court, including individual fines against the company directors.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the watchdog decided to prosecute the company because of the “blatant nature” of the underpayments and the involvement of vulnerable overseas workers.
The workers, both aged 28, were in Australia on a 496 designated area sponsored visa and a 485 temporary graduate visa when they started working for Liquid Fuel.
In his ruling last week, Judge John O’Sullivan​ said the company’s actions were “at the very least, reckless and show a disregard for their obligations”.
He also found there was an “absence of genuine contrition or remorse”.
Ms James said the heavy penalties should send a strong message to employers who exploited minimum-wage workers, particularly those from overseas.
“There are a minority of rogue employers that need to get the message that exploitation of these workers is unlawful and unacceptable conduct,” she said.
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, $1.6 million has been recovered for visa-holders in the 2015 financial year, up from $1.1 million the previous year.