‘Sara’* moved with her husband and three children from Afghanistan in 2016. As new migrants, they struggled to find work and learn a new culture and language.
She finally found a job a home care worker. She generally worked seven days/week for a minimum of 50 hours/week. After the first few weeks of employment, Sara’s boss stopped paying her. Sara kept working because her boss was promising to pay her soon, and because it was so hard for her to find work the first time. She also had limited English and was not aware of where to get help.
Sara found out about SMLS through a friend and contacted us for an appointment. We calculated that Sara had been unpaid for about 6 months and underpaid for her first few weeks.
SMLS sent her boss a letter of demand that went unanswered, so on Sara’s instruction we filed an application in the Fair Work division of the Federal Circuit Court for damages of more than $50,000.
During the time waiting for the hearing date, the company that employed Sara was de-registered by ASIC. We applied to ASIC to have the company reinstated, and then joined the director as a party to the application. The court then ordered the parties to attend a mediation.
With the assistance of a barrister organised through Justice Connect, the matter was successfully settled in favour of our client.
Sara was extremely happy when she recently received the first installment, especially given the uncertainty of current COVID restrictions.
*Please note, SMLS changes people’s names and details have been altered in case studies in order to protect client confidentiality
