Australia’s workplace watchdog launched legal action against a labour hire company operating in the building and construction industry, as well as the company’s director and payroll manager.

ASA Personnel Pty Ltd, which operates in Victoria and Queensland is now facing the court. The company’s head office is at Dandenong in Melbourne and it has offices at Morwell in Victoria’s Gippsland region and at Springwood in Brisbane. The company’s sole director Steven Lloyd Richardson its payroll manager Peter Crilly are also facing legal action.

It is alleged that during an investigation, a Fair Work Ombudsman Inspector formed a belief that the company had underpaid 13 workers it employed on a casual basis as labourers between November 2018 and May 2021. They worked on construction sites in Toongabbie, Rosedale and Drouin South in eastern Victoria.

An inspector issued a Compliance Notice to ASA Personnel in June 2023 after forming a belief that each of the 13 workers had been underpaid casual loadings and that all but one was underpaid minimum engagement pay and overtime entitlements, owed under the applicable enterprise agreement.

The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges ASA Personnel, without reasonable excuse, failed to comply with the compliance notice, which required it to calculate and back-pay the workers’ entitlements. It is alleged Richardson and Crilly were involved in the contravention.

It is also alleged that the workers were underpaid a total of AUD 236,100 (USD 155,681) and that the large majority remains owing.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the regulator would continue to enforce workplace laws and take businesses to court where lawful requests are not complied with.

The Ombudsman is seeking penalties in court. For the alleged failure to comply with the compliance notice, ASA Personnel faces a penalty of up to AUD 46,950 (USD 30,958) and Richardson and Crilly each face a penalty of up to AUD 9,390 (USD 6,191).

The regulator is also seeking a court order requiring ASA Personnel to rectify the alleged underpayments in full, plus interest. A hearing is listed in the Federal Circuit and Family Court in Melbourne on 18 April 2024.