Thursday 1 September 2011

North coast employer steals employees' superannuation


Warning to employees:
Check your payslips and contact your super fund

Sadly, yet another group of workers have discovered their boss hadn't been forwarding their superannuation to their super fund. The boss used the old trick of showing workers' super payments on their pay slips but then not forwarding those amounts to their super fund. Hmmmm, the ATO moves quickly to ensure taxation payments arrive promptly but (and this is speaking with first-hand experience) it doesn't give a flying fig about ensuring super payments are always sent. And the ATO does have that responsibility!

Today's Northern Star reports
Former staff of the We 'R' Kids childcare centre in Casino are furious their former employer had not paid their superannuation for up to five years.
In a further blow the workers appear to have lost all their entitlements.
Gathering in Casino yesterday to meet with employment advisers and others to consider their next move, the former staff said they were still in shock following the sudden closure of the centre on Friday. The centre was placed into liquidation with parent company, 888 Aust Investments Pty Ltd, racking up debts totalling hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Marlene Agresta was a former assistant at the centre who said although superannuation payments were reported on her pay slips, the funds had not been transferred to her superannuation fund since the company took over the business in 2006. She also said former staff were owed two weeks pay, which was due next Tuesday.
"We could have had two weeks pay to keep us going, but we didn't even get that - it's really slack," Mrs Agresta said.
Former employee Liz Parry said she had no idea what her next move would be, but said she would consider applying for a Centrelink payment until she found another job.
"But that is something I will leave as a last resort. I want to work, I am not the kind of person to sit around doing nothing," she said.
The whereabouts of former 888 Australia Investments Pty Ltd director James Zhang was unknown. Mr Zhang returned to China last year and has been virtually out of contact since.

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