Fair Work Ombudsman
Citation: FWO-2022-05-24-city-convenience-penalty-media-release
At a glance
- Penalty
- $30,000
- Employees affected
- 1
- Awards cited
- MA000173
What happened
Ethan Okili, the former director of two companies trading as City Convenience stores in Adelaide, faced legal action from the Fair Work Ombudsman. The stores, located at 3 Rundle Mall and 132 Grenfell Street, failed to comply with Compliance Notices and issue pay slips. An investigation began after a worker requested assistance. The Compliance Notices related to underpayment of minimum wage rates, overtime rates, and penalty rates for weekend, evening, and public holiday work between November 2018 and August 2019. One worker was employed as a casual retail assistant.
What was decided
The Federal Circuit and Family Court imposed a $16,039.80 penalty against Mr Okili. He was also ordered to pay $15,220.71 in outstanding entitlements to an underpaid worker. The court found the contraventions were serious and aimed to deter similar conduct. Judge Stewart Brown emphasized the importance of rectifying errors quickly. The companies involved went into liquidation after the court action commenced. The Fair Work Ombudsman encourages employees with pay concerns to seek assistance.
What it means for employers
Employers must act on Compliance Notices from the Fair Work Ombudsman. Failure to do so can result in significant penalties and back-payment orders. It's crucial to manage businesses to quickly correct errors, benefiting both the business and employees.
What it means for employees
Employees who believe they have been underpaid or are concerned about their entitlements should contact the Fair Work Ombudsman for free advice and assistance. Interpreter services are available.
Every statement above is drawn from the published decision. Read the original here:
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/2022-media-releases/may-2022/20220524-city-convenience-penalty-media-releaseWant more cases like this?
FairWork Mate tracks Fair Work Ombudsman, Fair Work Commission and Federal Court decisions across Australia. The full dataset, with structured fields for awards cited, industry, penalty amounts and affected employee counts, is available through the Business API. FairWork Mate AI answers plain-English questions grounded on the full corpus.
Individual case summaries on this site are free. API + AI access is a paid product. Contact us for pricing or a 50% off first month.
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 by AI 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 →