The former operator of a United Petroleum outlet in Brisbane has been fined $15,984 after providing a Fair Work inspector with falsified records.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court imposed the penalty against Navaneeth Gogikar, who formerly operated a United Petroleum outlet at Sunnybank Hills as a sole trader.
As part of an investigation, the Fair Work Ombudsman requested time-and-wages records from Gogikar, who provided pay slips showing he paid a young Indian international student he employed different rates of pay and net amounts than was actually the case.
Gogikar also breached the Fair Work Act by failing to keep proper records for the worker and two other international students he employed, and failing to issue the workers with pay slips. All three workers were visa holders.
The alleged record-keeping failures prevented the Fair Work Ombudsman from obtaining the relevant time-and-wages evidence required to complete a time-and-wages audit.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the penalty imposed should send a message about the seriousness of breaching record-keeping laws.
“We have no tolerance for employers who knowingly provide our inspectors false records,” Booth said.
“It is also unacceptable for an employer’s record-keeping practices to be so poor that they prevent us from completing a proper assessment of what hours its employees have worked and whether it has paid its employees their full lawful entitlements.”
The latest case is one of five initiated by the Fair Work Ombudsman against former operators of United Petroleum-branded outlets following an investigation into the network 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.
