Melbourne retailer Baby & Kids in court over worker abuse

The Fair Work Ombudsman has imposed Baby & Kids penalties of up to $41,250.

The post Melbourne retailer Baby & Kids in court over worker abuse appeared first on Inside Retail Australia.

Baby & Kids is facing a legal action from the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) after allegedly failing to pay a former worker proper wages and entitlements.

The FWO says the action was taken after it learned that Baby & Kids did not pay a worker – employed full-time in an e-commerce role from January to October 2022 – any wages for her final two weeks of work.

The company also allegedly withheld payment for the employee’s accrued but untaken annual leave entitlements at the end of her employment.

A Fair Work inspector issued a compliance notice to Baby & Kids in March last year due non-compliance with the General Retail Industry Award 2020 and the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards.

However, the company failed to act in accordance with the Compliance Notice, which required it to calculate and back-pay the worker’s entitlements amounting to $4374, plus superannuation.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has imposed Baby & Kids penalties of up to $41,250 and its sole director Qiyun Wang penalties of up to $8250 for non-compliance.

The company operates a Baby Direct store in Dandenong and previously operated stores in Ringwood and Hoppers Crossing.

The post Melbourne retailer Baby & Kids in court over worker abuse appeared first on Inside Retail Australia.