Australia’s workplace watchdog the Fair Work Ombudsman launched legal action in the Federal Circuit Court against the operator of a dairy farm in Queensland.

The regulator investigated after receiving a request for assistance from a worker, a working holiday visa-holder from France, who had been employed on a casual basis to do general farm work, house cleaning and to milk and feed cows.

A Fair Work Inspector issued a compliance notice in February to Mark Leonard Hess who operates a dairy farm business trading as M.L. Hess Dairy Producer at Maclagan, Queensland. The inspector believed Hess had failed to pay the employee correctly for work he had performed between August and November, 2019. The inspector also believed the employee had been underpaid casual minimum rates and was not paid penalty rates for public holiday work in accordance with the Pastoral Award 2010.

The Ombudsman alleges Hess, without reasonable excuse, failed to comply with the compliance notice which required him to calculate and back-pay the worker’s entitlements, adding that it made several attempts to secure voluntary compliance before commencing legal action.

Hess also allegedly breached workplace laws by failing to issue pay slips to the employee and failing to keep records of the employee’s hours of work.

The Ombudsman is seeking a penalty against Hess and a court order to comply with the compliance notice, which includes rectifying any underpayments in full, plus superannuation and interest.