Fair Work Ombudsman imposes backpay penalties against Melbourne software company

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has secured penalties and back payments in court totalling $39,453 against KYT Laboratories Pty Ltd, a Melbourne-based provider of online and virtual healthcare solutions and software.

KYT Laboratories Pty Ltd, which traded as Keytrust Laboratories and Keytrust CollabCare, had a $12,000 penalty imposed on it by The Federal Circuit and Family Court, as well as a $3,400 penalty against the company’s sole director Charles Greatrex.

The penalties were imposed in response to KYT Laboratories Pty Ltd failing to comply with a Compliance Notice, which required it to calculate and back-pay entitlements owing to an information technology worker it employed on a full-time basis from 2014 to 2022.

Greatrex was involved in the breach, the Fair Work Ombudsman claimed.

In addition to the penalties, the Court has ordered KYT Laboratories Pty Ltd to back-pay the worker a total of $24,053, plus interest and superannuation.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said employers that failed to act on Compliance Notices needed to be aware they could face court-imposed penalties on top of having to pay workers.

“When Compliance Notices are not followed, we will continue to take legal action,” Booth said.

The regulator investigated after the affected worker lodged a request for assistance.

A Fair Work Inspector issued a Compliance Notice to KYT Laboratories Pty Ltd in March 2023 after forming a belief the company had underpaid the worker’s minimum wages under the Professional Employees Award 2020 over a two-month period in 2022 and had failed to pay the worker’s accrued but untaken annual leave entitlements at the end of her employment, owed under the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards.

Judge Amanda Mansini found that the contraventions were “deliberate and, without reasonable excuse, can only be characterised as a blatant disregard of their statutory obligations under the Act”, as well as that a “substantial amount” of entitlements remained owing to the affected worker and “there is no objective evidence before the Court of regret or contrition”.

Judge Mansini also found that there was a need to impose penalties to deter other employers, KYT Laboratories Pty Ltd and Greatrex from similar conduct in future, as well as stating that evidence established that Greatrex “continues to be director of some 10 companies and has been the director of a further 7 companies”.

“[Mr Greatrex] has had the benefit of multiple opportunities to rectify the ongoing non-compliance with the Compliance Notice over a period of some 3 years but has not done so," Judge Mansini said.

Charles Greatrex has been contacted by techpartner.news for comment.