The Fair Work Ombudsman has dropped a case against children’s wear retailer Baby & Kids and issued a clarification of the stores involved.
Baby & Kids was facing legal action from the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) after allegedly failing to pay a former worker proper wages and entitlements.
The FWO says the action was taken after it learned that Baby & Kids did not pay a worker – employed full-time in an e-commerce role from January to October 2022 – any wages for her final two weeks of work.
However, on January 20 of this year, FWO advised it had discontinued the proceedings without further comment.
The company also allegedly withheld payment for the employee’s accrued but untaken annual leave entitlements at the end of her employment.
A Fair Work inspector issued a compliance notice to Baby & Kids in March last year due non-compliance with the General Retail Industry Award 2020 and the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards.
However, the company failed to act in accordance with the Compliance Notice, which the FWO argued required the company to calculate and back-pay the worker’s entitlements amounting to $4374, plus superannuation.
FWO was seeking penalties of up to $41,250 and its sole director Qiyun Wang penalties of up to $8250 for non-compliance.
Furthermore, while FWO initially said Baby & Kids (formerly Baby Direct Hoppers Crossing) had operated stores in Ringwood and Dandenong in January, it advised that Baby & Kids did not operate those stores.
