Fair Work Ombudsman
Citation: FWO-2022-04-01-lilyvale-eu-media-release
At a glance
- Respondent
- Lilyvale Hotel Pty Ltd
- Penalty
- $3,000,000
- Employees affected
- 199
- Awards cited
- MA000137
What happened
Lilyvale Hotel Pty Ltd, operating the Shangri-La hotel in Sydney, underpaid employees between 2013 and 2019. The Fair Work Ombudsman investigated and found the company failed to ensure annualised salaries covered minimum overtime and penalty rate entitlements under the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010. This resulted in underpayments of overtime, penalty rates, meal break penalties, and annual leave loading. A total of 199 current and former employees, including those on various visas, were affected. The roles impacted included cooks, chefs, attendants, porters, and those in purchasing, engineering, room service, and front office roles.
What was decided
Lilyvale Hotel Pty Ltd entered into an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman. The company has back-paid employees a total of $3.09 million, including interest. Individual back-payments ranged from $16 to $119,447. The EU requires Lilyvale Hotel to calculate and back-pay any remaining amounts, plus interest and superannuation, within four months. The company must also engage an auditing firm, make a $90,000 contrition payment, apologise to staff, provide workplace relations training, publish notices, and offer employees the option of weekly or hourly pay instead of annualised salaries. The Fair Work Ombudsman considered an EU an appropriate outcome due to Lilyvale Hotel’s cooperation and commitment to rectifying the underpayments.
What it means for employers
Employers paying annual salaries must regularly check that wages cover all minimum lawful entitlements for the hours employees work. A 'set-and-forget' approach to annual salaries is not acceptable. Employers should engage auditing firms to ensure workplace compliance.
What it means for employees
Employees receiving annual salaries should ensure their pay covers all minimum lawful entitlements. They can visit www.fairwork.gov.au or contact the Infoline on 13 13 94 for information and assistance.
Want this applied to your situation?
Reading the decision is free. FairWork Mate goes further — it reads the full case library and applies precedents like this one to your specific facts, citing the cases as it reasons. General information, not a guaranteed outcome or legal advice.
Every statement above is drawn from the published decision. Read the original here:
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/2022-media-releases/april-2022/20220401-lilyvale-eu-media-releaseSend your details to Liquid Employment Lawyers
Liquid Employment Lawyers is a paid legal service and our referral partner, not free Fair Work advice. Tell them what has happened and a member of their team will call you back. For free general guidance, use our tools or call the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94.
Prefer to read first? About Liquid Employment Lawyers · Not sure if you need a lawyer? Read the legal help guides
Want more cases like this?
FairWork Mate tracks Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Commission and Federal Court decisions across Australia. The AI advisor answers plain-English questions grounded on the full corpus — awards cited, industry, penalty amounts and affected employee counts — with a citation to the underlying decision on every answer.
Individual case summaries on this site are free. The full FWC and Federal Court library behind every advisor answer is on Pro.
FairWork Mate AI
This is one decision. Pro reads all of them.
Free case pages cite the top 250 decisions. Pro opens the full Fair Work Commission and Federal Court library, cross-references your own situation against it, and cites the decision behind every answer — plus document upload, so it can read your letter or contract line by line. 150 questions a month, cancel anytime.
Just need this week sorted? A 7-Day Pass is 50 questions over 7 days, no account. Get a 7-Day Pass — $14.99
Get notified on new Fair Work cases
Free email alerts when we publish new underpayment decisions, penalty orders, and workplace law updates.
Free forever. No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
This summary was drafted from the published decision and reviewed before publishing. It is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, speak to the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) or a qualified lawyer. About these summaries & corrections