Former operators of a United Petroleum outlet in Melbourne have been fined $40,000 for several workplace law breaches.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court imposed a $28,000 penalty against sole trader and commission agent Bharathi Karnati, and fined her husband Ravikanth Baddam, who managed the outlet, $12,000.
Karnati underpaid an Indian international student she employed as a casual console operator, breached record-keeping and pay slip laws and knowingly providing false or misleading pay slips to an inspector.
Karnati had paid the worker no more than $14 per hour when the legal wage was at least $28.38 per hour under the Vehicle Repair, Services and Retail Award 2020.
The worker was underpaid a total of $2,337 during his employment from December 2020 to January 2021.
Fair Work Inspectors audited the United Petroleum outlet at Leakes Road in Truganina, in Melbourne’s western suburbs as part of an investigation.
The underpayments were rectified following the investigation and the respondents admitted to the contraventions in court.
Judge Amelia Edwards noted the operators had paid the worker less than half his lawful entitlements.
Misleading records were a deliberate attempt to hide non-compliance
“The false and misleading records contravention is especially serious as [Karnati’s] conduct must be understood as a deliberate attempt to prevent the FWO from discovering the non-compliance with workplace laws and minimum conditions of employment,” Judge Edwards said.
“General deterrence is particularly important in the circumstances of this case where the contravening conduct involves the provision of false information and the creation of false documents,” Judge Edwards said.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured more than $270,000 penalties in court against former operators of United Petroleum-branded outlets.
In February 2025 the Fair Work Ombudsman secured $179,221 in penalties in relation to underpayments of workers at two United Petroleum-branded outlets in Tasmania.
The courts penalised a former Brisbane sole trader $15,984 in August 2025; a month later, the operators of an outlet in Adelaide faced $38,500 in penalties.
In 2025, the Fair Work Ombudsman also began legal action against Satarupa Patel; the case is ongoing.
The legal actions followed a FWO investigation into the United Petroleum network commenced in response to concerns about non-compliance. The investigation involved audits of 20 United Petroleum-branded outlets across Tasmania, Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
