Fair Work Ombudsman v Wok Me Corporate NQ Pty Ltd

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) brought proceedings against Wok Me Corporate NQ Pty Ltd and Mr. Jian Li (the respondents) in the Federal Court of Australia. The dispute concerned alleged contraventions of the *Fair Work Act 2009* (Cth) relating to the underpayment of employees. A statement of agreed facts was presented to the court, outlining the nature of the contraventions.

The primary legal issue before the court was the determination of appropriate penalties for the contraventions. This involved considering the total amount of underpayments, which amounted to $12,658.23, and assessing the proportionality of the penalties sought by the FWO in light of the factual circumstances. The court also had to consider the admissibility of evidence relating to past complaints against associated companies, which the respondents argued was unfairly prejudicial.

Justice Egan ruled that evidence of past complaints against associated companies was inadmissible, finding it would be unfairly prejudicial to the respondents. In determining the penalties, the court applied the totality principle, which requires consideration of proportionality. The court found that the FWO's submissions regarding penalties were disproportionate to the factual matrix of the case, indicating that the proposed penalties did not adequately reflect the scale of the underpayments and other relevant factors.