An 18-year-old was allegedly paid nothing for two days of electrical work on the basis it was an ‘unpaid trial’, and the Fair Work Ombudsman is now pursuing the former boss of the company personally, even though the company has been wound up.
The regulator has commenced Federal Circuit and Family Court proceedings against Hassan Korkomaz, the former owner-operator of Electro Power Group Pty Ltd, an electrical services business in Sydney’s Bankstown. The company went into liquidation in 2025, but the Ombudsman alleges Mr Korkomaz was personally involved in the contraventions (accessorial liability, where an individual can be held liable for a company’s breaches of workplace laws).
At a glance
- Parties: Fair Work Ombudsman v Hassan Korkomaz, former owner-operator of Electro Power Group Pty Ltd (in liquidation)
- Award: Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award 2020
- Allegations: Involvement in failing to comply with a Compliance Notice, and in the underpayment of an 18-year-old worker
- Penalties sought: Up to $9,390 for the alleged Compliance Notice breach and up to $18,780 per contravention for the alleged underpayment
- Next step: Directions hearing, Federal Circuit and Family Court, Sydney, 5 August 2026
The case concerns two young workers the company employed as casual electrical workers, both of whom sought the regulator’s assistance. A Fair Work Inspector issued a Compliance Notice (a formal notice requiring an employer to calculate and back-pay entitlements) to the company in October 2023, after forming a belief it had underpaid a worker, then aged 20, employed for four weeks in May and June 2023. In the inspector’s assessment, the worker received “less than 15 per cent of the combined casual minimum wages and overtime entitlements” he was owed under the Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award 2020. The Ombudsman alleges the total amount required to comply with the notice was $7,855, and that Mr Korkomaz was involved in the company failing, without reasonable excuse, to comply.
The second worker was 18 when the company employed him for two days in 2025. The regulator alleges the company treated the two days as an ‘unpaid trial’ and paid him nothing, despite the same award entitling him to $674 in casual minimum wages and overtime.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said operators alleged to have been involved in breaches of workplace laws could face court action even after their companies are wound up. “Employers need to be aware that taking action to protect potentially vulnerable workers, including young workers, is among our top priorities,” Ms Booth said. “We are prepared to take court action to hold individuals to account if we allege they are involved in breaches.”
The regulator is also asking the court to order that any penalties imposed on Mr Korkomaz be paid to the two workers to make good the alleged underpayments.
The regulator also secured more than $870,000 in court penalties for failures to comply with Compliance Notices in 2024-25.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman media release, 24 July 2026
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