A swimming school franchise business that operates across Melbourne, including in the western suburbs, has apologised for underpaying 1308 staff.
Paul Sadler Swimland Pty Ltd has issued a public notice saying it has agreed to be supervised by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) for two years.
The notice says the swimming school franchisees had contravened the Fair Work Act from July, 2010, to March, 2016.
They included those in Bacchus Marsh, Braybrook, Essendon, Hoppers Crossing and Melton, and USAust Management Services Pty Ltd, trading as Paul Sadler Swimland Taylors Lakes Pty Ltd.
The schools failed to pay the minimum wages to adult and junior employees and minimum rates set out in enterprise agreements. The workers were underpaid a combined total of more than $1.42 million.
As a result, the franchisees have committed to an enforceable agreement with the FWO, which will include a future audit to ensure they are complying with all federal workplace laws.
Paul Sadler Swimland Pty Ltd will donate $25,000 to the Smith Family and $25,000 to Western Chances.
In a statement, the company said that in late 2015, it was made aware of an error with staff payments. The business conducted an audit of its manual payroll systems and confirmed that a number of employees had been “unintentionally underpaid”.
The statement said that the company had worked throughout 2016 to ensure employees were repaid any money owed to them and had also written to all former employees who were owed money.
