SA Employment Tribunal finds managers of The Bend caravan park were dismissed ‘without cause’ and incorrectly paid

Two former managers of The Bend caravan park have had a win against the company in the Employment Tribunal.

Husband-and-wife managers of The Bend caravan park were dismissed from their roles “without cause” after being paid incorrectly throughout their employment, a tribunal has ruled.

Another hearing will now be held to determine how much the company, headed by managing director Dr Sam Shahin, will be required to pay the couple.

Leeann and Michael Staska were hired as full-time managers of The Band caravan park in July 2020, with a starting salary of $55,000 each.

Under the terms of their contracts, they were not entitled to paid overtime, and a time-off-in-lieu policy applied only to additional full days worked.

Dr Sam Shahin at The Bend Motorsport Park. Picture: Emma Brasier

According to a SA Employment Tribunal judgment, the pair complained of “excessive overtime” early in their employment but they were not relieved of any duties or provided with extra staff.

They lodged a claim that their salaries were below the minimum award entitlements for the hours they were working.

But The Bend argued the award did not apply to them because they were managers with duties outside of any single classification.

The company also said the amount of overtime worked was “limited”.

In its ruling, the tribunal found the award did apply – meaning the Staskas were entitled to allowances and annual leave loading.

It also accepted allegations that the pair worked an average of eight hours in overtime each week.

However, it found Mr Staska’s recollection of spending half an hour cleaning the pool every evening was “significantly overstated”, and rejected the couple’s claim regarding the volume of overnight callout work they did.

The Staskas resigned from their roles in June 2022, giving the required eight weeks’ notice, but midway through they were asked to attend a meeting with Dr Shahin in Norwood.

Anticipating she was about to be dismissed, Ms Staska put an auto-reply on her work email account saying “we no longer work for this organisation”.

Dr Shahin then wrote to her saying the auto-reply and her non-attendance at the Norwood meeting had been taken as an updated resignation “with immediate effect”. The remainder of their notice periods were not paid out.

“I find Dr Shahin ... asserted she had changed their resignation dates and dismissed them forthwith,” the tribunal said.

“I uphold the claims for pay for the balance of the notice periods, plus interest from when it should have been paid.”

In a statement to The Advertiser, Dr Shahin said: “This matter was before the tribunal in February”.

“It is an understatement to say how disappointing and thoughtless it is for the opinion of the court to be released late on Christmas Eve!

“We have not had the chance to read the materials in detail and will do soonest in the new year.”

Dr Shahin said “needless to say, The Bend maintains that it strictly adheres to all employment regulations”.

“Success sometimes unfortunately attracts envy,” he said.

“I cannot comment on the specifics of the matter whilst it is still in process.

“We reserve our rights.”

Originally published as SA Employment Tribunal finds managers of The Bend caravan park were dismissed ‘without cause’ and incorrectly paid