An Altona Meadows man and his medical first aid company have been fined $300,000 for falsifying pay records and routinely underpaying workers.
Paul Tempany and his company Acute Health Pty Ltd were fined $50,000 and $250,000 respectively following years of “flagrant disregard” for the rights of underpaid workers. It is the second largest such fine ever issued in Victoria.
Mr Tempany, the 2007 Hobsons Bay young citizen of the year, is also under investigation by training authorities for offering “accredited and certified” training despite not being a registered training organisation.
His company has been the subject of Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) investigations since 2012 into multiple breaches of industrial law that left a trail of victims thousands of dollars out of pocket.
Federal Circuit Court of Australia judge Alister McNab recently decided in FWO’s favour, finding Mr Tempany had a pattern of deliberately underpaying workers from 2011 to 2017, despite warnings in 2012 that he was being investigated.
Casual workers were paid well beneath the relevant award rate, forced to pay $100 for staff T-shirts and made to fund their own transport to interstate events.
Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Kristen Hannah said the FWO was particularly concerned that Mr Tempany was targeting young workers.
“We simply have no tolerance for employers who trample on workers’ rights and refuse to change their ways,” she said.
While Mr Tempany’s victims have welcomed the court’s order, they hold little hope of ever seeing their money.
Michael Kempe was short-changed more than $3000 for work in 2014 and 2015, receiving little more than half of what he should have been paid.
“He’s preying on healthcare students,” he told Star Weekly.
“It’s not an honest mistake – it’s a proven track record of the same behaviour.”
Young Workers Centre co-ordinator Keelia Fitzpatrick said only criminal penalties would help deter such blatant “wage theft”.
The company’s website, taken down after Mr Tempany was questioned by Star Weekly, claimed to offer “nationally accredited, certified [first aid] training”.
But an Australian Skills Quality Authority spokesman said Acute Health was not a registered training organisation.
“ASQA is investigating the allegations in relation to Acute Health Pty Ltd,” the spokesman said.
