Fair Work Ombudsman v Mai

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) brought this case against Mr and Ms Mai for contraventions of multiple provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act) by the couple who ran a small business. The court had to determine the appropriate pecuniary penalties to be imposed on the respondents for their contraventions. The primary legal issue was whether several obligations to pay overtime imposed by a single term of the award should be treated as a single contravention under section 557(1) of the FW Act. Another issue was the need for specific and general deterrence, as well as the application of the totality principle.

The court considered the respondents' admissions and cooperation since the commencement of the proceedings, which justified a 25% reduction in penalties. The court also took into account the need for specific and general deterrence and applied the totality principle to ensure that the cumulative total of the penalties would not be too low or too high. The court ultimately decided on a penalty of $265,000 for Mr Mai and $130,000 for Ms Le, with a 25% reduction applied to these amounts.

The court issued orders for the rectification of underpayments and interest, superannuation payments, and the payment of pecuniary penalties to the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Commonwealth. The respondents were also granted liberty to apply for enforcement if any of the preceding orders were not complied with.