Owners of Donut King stores served with criminal charges over alleged child employment breaches

The owners and operators of Donut King stores located in Rosebud Plaza and Berwick, face 70 criminal charges in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria over alleged breaches of Victoria’s child employment laws.

The state’s child employment watchdog, Wage Inspectorate Victoria, alleges that between 1 January and 6 July 2024 Minto Nominees Pty Ltd, trading as Donut King Rosebud Plaza and Berwick, contravened the Child Employment Act 2003 by:

employing 3 children under the age of 15 without a licence on 30 occasionsfailing to ensure the children are supervised by someone with a Working with Children Clearancefailing to provide a rest break of at least 30 minutes after every 3 hours of workemploying children for longer than 3 hours per day during a school termemploying children for longer than 6 hours per day during school holidays.

The maximum penalty for each offence is $47,422.

The matter has been listed for mention in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 21 February 2025.

The Wage Inspectorate will make no further comment while the matter is before the court.

Background

Victoria’s child employment laws require employers of children under 15 to obtain a licence from the Wage Inspectorate before any work takes place. This enables the Wage Inspectorate to check that matters like safety, hours of work, rest breaks and supervision are properly considered before employment starts.

Workers under 15 must be supervised by someone who holds a valid employee Victorian Working with Children Clearance.

Child employment laws restrict when businesses can employ children and how long they can work:

during a school term, children can be employed for a maximum of 3 hours a day and 12 hours per weekduring school holidays, children can be employed up to 6 hours a day and 30 hours a week.

Children must receive a 30-minute rest break after every 3 hours of work.

A prosecution is the Wage Inspectorate’s most serious compliance tool and decisions to take legal action are made in line with its Compliance and Enforcement Policy.

More information about Victoria’s child employment laws is available on the Wage Inspectorate’s website or by calling 1800 287 287.