Australian Sikh fined A$57,000 for underpaying Indian student
Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 26 May, 2023 11:15 AM
An Australian court has imposed a penalty of more than A$57,000 on a Melbourne-based painting company owned by a Sikh man for breaches affecting an Indian student working for it.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court on Thursday imposed a A$47,952 penalty against the Mehtaab Group, which operates a business trading as Paint Splash, and A$9,590.04 against the company's sole director and shareholder, Vikramjeet Singh Khalsa.
The penalties were secured by Australian regulatory authority, Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), which investigated the case after receiving a request for assistance from the affected Indian.
In June 2021, the FWO found that Mehtaab Group unfairly dismissed the worker, following which it ordered the company to pay the worker $21,491 compensation, plus superannuation, within two weeks.
The company failed to make the payments to the Indian, who was employed by the company for almost a year.
During the investigation, a Fair Work Inspector formed a belief that Mehtaab Group failed to pay the worker's accrued but untaken annual leave entitlements when it dismissed her.
In September 2021, the inspector issued Mehtaab Group with a compliance notice, which required the company to calculate and back-pay any outstanding annual leave entitlements owed to the worker.
The Court found the company breached the Fair Work Act by failing to comply with a Fair Work Commission order to pay A$21,491.17 in compensation to the worker as a result of an unfair dismissal claim, and failing to comply with an FWO compliance notice to pay outstanding annual leave entitlements to the worker.
The penalties were imposed against Khalsa after the court found he was involved in both breaches.
In addition to the penalties, the court ordered Mehtaab Group to pay the outstanding Fair Work Commission order for unfair dismissal compensation, plus superannuation, and to calculate and back-pay the annual leave entitlements owing to the worker.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said the regulator was prepared to take action to reinforce the importance of complying with Fair Work Commission orders and FWO compliance notices.
"The Fair Work Ombudsman is prepared to take legal action to ensure that employees receive all compensation and entitlements they are lawfully entitled to. Any employees with concerns about their pay or entitlements should contact the FWO for free advice and assistance."
The FWO has filed 126 litigations involving visa holder workers, and secured more than A$13.4 million in court-ordered penalties in visa holder litigations, in the past five full financial years.
Seehra has been awarded 'Commendation for Brave Conduct' for his swift action towards an agitated patient who threatened to blow up the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in Queensland. The patient had a red-wired explosive-looking device wrapped around his body, Seehra told SBS Punjabi.
Ji Min Sha, a 22-year-old junior cybersecurity major from Seoul, South Korea, has been held as the prime suspect in the case, Purdue Police Chief Lesley Wiete said. Wiete called the crime "unprovoked and senseless". Chheda was just 10 days away from his 21st birthday, the Indianapolis Star reported.
In a statement, the Chief Minister said it is unfortunate that a Punjabi family hailing from the Harsi village of Hoshiarpur district in the state have been murdered in California. He said that as per reports the family was kidnapped and was brutally murdered later on. Mann said the deceased have been identified as Jasdeep Singh, Jasleen Kaur, Amandeep Singh and an eight-month-old baby Ruhi.
A prominent New York senator is joining the ranks of American lawmakers who want the White House to end vaccination rules at the Canada-U.S. land border. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Brian Higgins, Democrats both, have written to urge President Joe Biden to "reciprocate" Canada's new COVID-19 border policy.
A California man has been charged with hate crimes and robbery after he attacked and robbed 14 South Asian women, mostly wearing sarees and bindis. The estimated worth of all the stolen necklaces is about $35,000.
Mystery deepened in the case of a kidnapped Indian-origin family in California as officials reported that a person was taken into custody in connection with the case after he attempted suicide and the truck belonging to one of the victims was found burning. But still missing is the kidnapped family - eight-month-old baby Aroohi Dheri, her parents, Jasleen Kaur, 27, and Jasdeep Singh, 36, and uncle, Amandeep Singh, 39.
