A “reckless” former manager of a Tullamarine bakery has been fined $60,000 for underpaying and threatening staff.
The Federal Circuit Court found Mark Siciliano, of Lower Templestowe, former manager and part-owner of Universal Bread and Roll Bakery, guilty of threatening to dismiss a female clerical assistant unless she agreed to deductions from her pay to cover the cost of mistakes she made when collating orders.
Unlawful deductions and under- payment of wages, penalty rates, super- annuation and leave entitlements led to the employee being underpaid $9012 between April, 2010, and February, 2011.
Workplace laws relating to frequency of payment of wages, keeping employment records and issuing pay slips were also breached.
The Fair Work Ombudsman discovered the breaches when investigating a complaint lodged by the employee.
Judge Grant Riethmuller found Siciliano had “a significant history of underpaying employees” and ordered him to rectify the $2358 owed to the employee in superannuation.
