Marine company sued for unpaid workers

A marine company is being sued for employing two Fijian men for eight hours a day, seven days a week at Port Adelaide docks for $100 a day.

The Fair Work Ombudsman says it has lodged a statement of claim in the Adelaide Federal Court alleging the two men were underpaid more than $25,000 in an unlawful unpaid training arrangement by Sydney-based Devine Marine Group Pty Ltd, which provides shipping and marine salvage services.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has also launched legal action against Devine Marine Group sole director and majority-owner Captain Brett Barry Devine, of Sydney, and Adelaide Nautical College principal Arthur Boucaut-Jones, of Largs Bay in Adelaide.

Devine Marine Group allegedly recruited the two workers from Fiji, assisted them with accommodation, airfares and obtaining sub-class 456 Short Stay Business Visas and paid them a living-away allowance of $100 a day, the ombudsman says in a statement released on Wednesday.

The two workers allegedly worked for three months and six months respectively, with duties including painting, welding and labouring, but did not get wages or superannuation.

The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges they were not paid because the work was deemed training by the Australian Nautical College, in conjunction with Devine Marine Group.

Court documents allege the workers should have been employed as casual employees and should have been paid more than $19 an hour on weekdays and up to $39 an hour on weekends.

The ombudsman says they were underpaid $14,869 and $10,144 respectively.

Devine and Boucaut-Jones face penalties of up to $6,600 per breach and Devine Marine Group faces penalties of up to $33,000 per breach.

The matter will go back to court on September 19.

Views: 0

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Powered by WordPress | Designed by: Premium WordPress Themes | Thanks to Themes Gallery, Bromoney and Wordpress Themes