A former operator of a United Petroleum outlet in Brisbane has been hit with a $15,984 penalty for providing falsified employment records to the workplace regulator.
The Federal Circuit and Family Court imposed the penalty on Navaneeth Gogikar, who previously ran the United Petroleum Sunnybank Hills outlet as a sole trader, after he supplied a Fair Work Inspector with misleading pay slips during an investigation.
The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) said Mr Gogikar knowingly provided documents that showed a young Indian international student he employed was paid different rates and net amounts than was actually the case. He also failed to keep proper records for that worker and two other young Indian international students he employed, and did not issue them with pay slips.
All three workers were visa holders aged 23 to 24 and worked as console operators between 2019 and 2021. According to the FWO, the record-keeping failures prevented inspectors from obtaining the time-and-wages evidence needed to complete an audit.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the penalty should serve as a warning to employers.
“We have no tolerance for employers who knowingly provide our inspectors false records,” Ms 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.
“Employers need to be aware that taking action to protect young and migrant workers is a priority for the Fair Work Ombudsman. Anybody with concerns about their entitlements should contact the Fair Work Ombudsman for free assistance.”
The case is one of five brought by the FWO against former operators of United Petroleum-branded outlets following a network-wide investigation triggered by compliance concerns. The probe included audits of 20 outlets across Tasmania, Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia.
Two matters were finalised in February, with courts imposing $179,221 in penalties over underpayments at two Tasmanian outlets. Two further cases are ongoing, involving Sai Enterprises Pty Ltd and Raman Monga in relation to an Adelaide outlet, and sole trader Bharathi Karnati in relation to an outlet in Melbourne. One investigation remains under way.
The regulator says it filed 146 litigations involving visa holder workers and secured nearly $23 million in penalties in cases that have included visa holders over the seven financial years to June 2024.
The FWO makes no allegations against the current operators of the United Petroleum outlet in Sunnybank Hills.
