Toowoomba childcare worker left redundant days before going on maternity leave after childcare franchise goes under

A Toowoomba worker with a baby on the way is among hundreds across the country who fear they may never be paid by a failed childcare franchise.

Genius Childcare centre closing down in Toowoomba

Among nationwide Genius Childcare closures, the “poor strategic management” of the Australian franchise has left hundreds of childcare workers out of jobs and weeks worth of work unpaid as 54 staff members join a court case lodged by the United Workers Union.

The company has come under fire as Genius staff have alleged their pay would often be delayed, and redundant staff are still waiting for weeks worth of wages, superannuation, and severance pay.

Staff members in the head office experienced some of the longest delays and by February 25 they had worked for 8 weeks with no pay, a head office staff member told News Corp.

This member has not been contactable since they shared this information anonymously.

In December UWU lodged court action against the company in a test case and another claim was lodged in the Federal Circuit and Family Court on March 8 on behalf of 54 Genius Childcare workers.

A Toowoomba Genius staff member was left in the lurch while 32 weeks pregnant when the company announced the centre was closing down just weeks before she was set to go on maternity leave.

Staff at the Toowoomba centre, which closed on February 28, have not received their redundancy pay or wages for their last three weeks of work.

This Genius childcare worker, who has asked to remain anonymous, said no one will hire her this far into her pregnancy, and her only option was to apply for Centrelink support which she will hopefully receive after delivering her baby.

“I’m still waiting for the pay that Genius owes me, which has been extremely stressful, especially with a baby on the way,” she said.

“Finding another job this late in pregnancy is extremely challenging.”

The Toowoomba centre lost a large number of staff around Christmas in 2024, and Genius forced the remaining staff to take time off while the company hired replacements.

The workers were later told that the closure would be taken out of their annual leave.

“Those of us who chose to stay were assured that such problems would not recur and that our payments would be made on time,” the anonymous childcare worker said.

According to the Genius website they have 45 centres across Australia with 17 of them labelled as ‘Coming Soon’.

At least 12 centres in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory announced their closures, according to the United Workers Union.

Ten Genius centres are being taken over by Mayfield Childcare or Aspen ELC in March, and one is being taken over by Mayfield in May, according to the UWU investigation.

Mayfield Childcare has had an incubator agreement with Genius since November 2021 and Genius holds about 30 per cent of shares in Mayfield Childcare.

UWU National President Jo Schofield said Genius has put profit before the safety and education of children and the full impact of this collapse is being felt by families and workers across the country.

“We have seen Genius Early Learning abandon all its responsibilities to families, children and educators, and it once again raises the issue of cowboy behaviour by for-profit early learning providers,” she said.

Ms Schofield said Genius Director Darren Misquitta seems to have ‘disappeared off the face of the earth’ and the last time staff had directly received contact from him was June 2024, when he sent an email apologising for delayed pay.

“The rumour mill is in overdrive, reporting him in Hong Kong, Japan, the Gold Coast and other locations, but the truth is no one seems to know for sure,” she said.

Mr Misquitta is the sole director of Genius which is owned by parent company DK Andaras which is in liquidation as of December 12 2024.

All of the companies within DK Andaras are owned by Mr Misquitta or his family, according to UWU.

Genius staff members received an email on March 18 informing them of an upcoming creditors meeting on March 25 to determine the steps forward for Genius and a second meeting will be scheduled afterwards.

An ex-Genius staff member shared the documents with News Corp, and said it was the first time they had received any contact since being told their centre was closing down.

The administrators are not responsible for paying the debts owed to staff and the document said they “cannot provide any reliable estimates” on whether staff will get the money they are owed.

News Corp attempted to contact Mr Misquitta for comment.

Originally published as Toowoomba childcare worker left redundant days before going on maternity leave after childcare franchise goes under