Hospitality businesses continue to be prime targets for the Fair Work Ombudsman. The Fair Work office has launched a prosecution against the operators of Ballina Island Motor Inn, a motel in northern coastal NSW, for allegedly failing to provide inspectors with staff employment records.

Facing court is Ballina Island Resort that operates the motel and manager Matthew Laurie. Fair Work Ombudsman executive director, Michael Campbell, said it will be alleged in court that the company is either deliberately withholding the records or does not have them.

Documents lodged in the Federal Magistrates Court in Sydney allege that the company ignored numerous requests from inspectors for time-and-wages records. Under workplace laws, employers must keep employment records for employees and former employees and provide them to Fair Work inspectors upon request.

Ballina Island Resort also allegedly failed to issue payslips to all employees.

The manager and the company have allegedly each committed two breaches of workplace laws. The maximum penalty per breach is $33,000 for the company and $6600 for Mr Laurie.

Meanwhile, the owner of a Northern Territory cafe has been fined for underpaying an employee more than $20,000. Fortcrest Investments that operates Lips Cafe in Palmerston, was fined in the Federal Magistrates Court for underpaying a casual worker between 2003 and 2008.

Fortcrest failed to pay the worker the minimum hourly rate as well as her allowance entitlements and failing to give the employee payslips or keep proper superannuation records.

The federal magistrate Janet Terry said the owners of the cafe were East Timorese and they were unfamiliar with national workplace laws but were reckless for not making inquiries with relevant authorities about their obligations. Fortcrest was fined more than $22,000 and has repaid the worker.

Bill Loizides, group manager of field operations at FWO, is in charge of the team of inspectors who are set to visit 10,000 small businesses in New South Wales, 10,000 in Queensland, 5000 in South Australia and 1000 in Tasmania this year.