Celebrity chef George Calombaris underpayments triple to $7.8m

David Marin-GuzmanWorkplace correspondent

Updated Jul 18, 2019 – 11.26am, first published at 9.36am

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Restaurants associated with celebrity chef George Calombaris have been forced to back pay staff more than $7.8 million and pay a fine of $200,000 in a deal with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO).

The underpayments of 524 employees over six years at the MasterChef star's Melbourne restaurants have tripled the initial $2.6 million estimate the company made in 2017 when it blamed "historically poor processes".

David Marin-Guzman writes about industrial relations, workplace, policy and leadership from Sydney. Connect with David on Twitter. Email David at david.marin-guzman@afr.com