“It is not how I operate as a person,” Ms [JOANN Doolan] said. “We are good people. I need my side of the story to be put, otherwise people would believe what they read. It has been at huge cost to me. I am not the sort of person I have been portrayed as. I am not going to sack you if you sneeze.”

“There is a human cost to this story,” Mr Hockey said, adding that he would “not pass judgments” on the agreements until the Office of Workplace Services provided him with more details.

Ms [Nerida Corby] said staff had been upset and protective of the Doolans, concerned at the distress the controversy was causing them. “It is not just them affected,” she said. “If they don’t get the business we don’t get the jobs.”

JOANN Doolan has been to hell and back since the motel she owns and operates with her husband, Don, was catapulted into the IR debate this week.

The Doolans own the Lilac City Motor Inn in north Goulburn, a 26- room establishment with pink and red geraniums in its neat garden.

Since Deputy Opposition Leader Julia Gillard, drawing on a media report, accused them of slashing staff pay and conditions when they introduced AustralianWorkplace Agreements, the family has been inundated with hate mail and abusive phone calls.

But the Doolans, who bought the motel in 2005, say they pay all of their staff more than the minimum wage and have a good relationship with them.

The award for a grade-one hospitality services employee is $13.91 an hour, or $14.57 for a grade-two employee.

Nerida Corby, 32, has worked for the Doolans as a receptionist, waitress and general handywoman for the past three months. The mother of two children under five said the Doolans were excellent employers — flexible and considerate.

She told The Australian that she earned well above the $13.91 an hour minimum. “My pay is perfectly reasonable for what I do,” Ms Corby said.

“I am happy to be working here. They are great, they are very nice people. They are just a young family trying to run a business.”

In the media maelstrom, the Doolans were accused of instructing staff not to wear perfume or aftershave, nor to rub their nose or even “pull at a slipping bra strap”. But Ms Doolan said she was disturbed by the way she had been depicted — and the hate mail that followed.

“It is not how I operate as a person,” Ms Doolan said. “We are good people. I need my side of the story to be put, otherwise people would believe what they read. It has been at huge cost to me. I am not the sort of person I have been portrayed as. I am not going to sack you if you sneeze.”

Labor leader Kevin Rudd defended Ms Gillard yesterday, saying she had not mentioned the motor inn by name when she attacked the AWAs the owners had offered staff.

On Wednesday during question time, Ms Gillard, the Opposition’s industrial relations spokeswoman, repeatedly waved a copy of the AWAs given to staff at theLilac City Motor Inn at John Howard.

“Mr Howard would be proud of this effort,” Ms Gillard said.

“It means that a worker can be paid the minimum wage, $13.47 an hour, and that’s it. No penalty rates. No overtime. No rest breaks. No shift allowance. No leave loading. No public holiday pay.

“It goes on and on: $13.47 an hour and you lose every condition that

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workers have historically relied on in this industry as part of their pay packet,” Ms Gillard added.

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Joe Hockey said yesterday the ALP should have done more to check its facts before airing the allegations.

“There is a human cost to this story,” Mr Hockey said, adding that he would “not pass judgments” on the agreements until the Office of Workplace Services provided him with more details.

“Whenever serious allegations are raised, we will properly investigate them, but we are mindful of the fact that when allegations are made, you have to check thefacts,” he said.

“When the Labor Party and the trade union movement try to make a political point next time, they should bear in mind that businesses like this help to prop up the Australian economy.”

The Doolans have two boys, aged four and seven, and have worked hard to build the motel into a successful business. Mrs Doolan was forced to talk to her sons’ primary school to ensure that they were not bullied as a result of all the attention.

Emails condemning their conduct have come from as far afield as Norway. “I would rather stay in the park than stay at your motel,” one emailer said.

From The Netherlands, one outraged person wrote: “Your workplace agreement is a disgrace. Do you not realise your employees are people? Do you never yawn, rub your head and nose and adjust your bra?”

Ms Corby said staff had been upset and protective of the Doolans, concerned at the distress the controversy was causing them. “It is not just them affected,” she said. “If they don’t get the business we don’t get the jobs.”

The Hotels Motels and Accommodation Association, which drew up the AWAs, said they were legitimate when lodged.