Mantle Group Hospitality ordered to provide back pay to employees

A Queensland hospitality empire will be forced to pay back employees, and a senior manager may face federal police, after the company was found to have “systematically ripped off” workers.

Jimmy’s on the Mall in Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall is part of the Mantle empire. Picture: David Clark

• Ripped-off ex-employee calls for others to come forward

A millionaire pub baron’s empire will be forced to pay back its employees and a senior manager could be referred to the federal police after the Fair Work Commission found the company had again “systematically ripped” off its young workers.

Mantle Group Hospitality (MGH), owned by Godfrey Mantle, runs iconic Queensland venues like Pig ‘n’ Whistle and Jimmy’s on the Mall in Brisbane’s Queen Street, which had been depriving employees of penalty rates.

Last year, Mantle Group was caught underpaying its staff under a two-decade old “zombie” services agreement which Commissioner Jennifer Hunt ordered to be terminated from June 9, 2022.

But in a shock twist, the FWC has found Mantle Group continued avoiding paying penalty rates by moving workers onto yet another unfair “Hot Wok” agreement designed to encourage workers to “opt out” of penalty rates.

It paved the way for significant back pay for hundreds of workers estimated to have collectively lost more than $200,000 over the past two years.

Maurice Blackburn Principal Giri Sivaraman, who represented MGH employees during the first “zombie agreement” FWC hearing, said the new findings were “extraordinary” given the company’s worker contract history.

Mantle Group boss Godfrey Mantle was not involved personally in the matter.

“When terminating the zombie agreement, the Mantle Group was moving workers off that agreement to a new one and still not paying any penalty rates,” Mr Mr Sivaraman said.

“The Hot Wok agreement said you could opt out, but we believe they were just telling people to adopt it and if you didn’t, you were unlikely to get rostered on.

“You can’t get an agreement that leads people to not being paid penalty rates. It was a deliberate strategy they set up.”

Under the Hot Wok agreement, employees were underpaid weekend and public holiday penalty rates, allowances including working late and working early, superannuation and other entitlements.

Up to 300 young workers are expected to be affected by the dodgy contract, with Mr Sivaraman estimating the payout figure could be “easy couple of hundred grand.”

“The staff are mainly casual, they get time and a half on a weekend or double time, so you’re talking ten bucks an hour,” Mr Sivaraman said.

“If one person is (owed) about a grand, multiply that by 200-300 workers governed on the agreement.”

Alex Knott was a former employee who complained about poor wages and conditions. Picture: David Clark

The FWC is also considering referring MGH’s human resources chief Darren Latham to the Australian Federal Police for potentially giving false or misleading information about how employees came to be on the contracts.

In published decision findings, the Commission stated that Mr Latham’s declaration was “false or misleading in a number of respects, including as to the purported information sessions, the voting process and the number of employees covered by the agreement.”

“It is apparent that this was the result of deliberate conduct on the part of Mr Latham in that, having regard to his position, knowledge and experience and his role in the process of “making” the Hot Wok Agreement, he knew what the true position was but chose to misrepresent or falsify this in his declaration.

“Accordingly, we will request that the General Manager of the Commission consider whether Mr Latham’s conduct in respect of his Form F17 declaration in this matter should be the subject of a referral to the Australian Federal Police.”

A Mantle Group Hospitality spokesperson said it would be appealing the decision.

“Hot Wok will be applying to the Federal Court to have all of the decisions of the FWC quashed because of bias,” the spokesperson said.

“Hot Wok is confident that it will be successful in having these unfair and biased comments overturned.”

The Pig 'N' Whistle at Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley.

United Workers Union Industrial Officer Martin de Rooy said the decision was a victory for young workers who are often exploited in hospitality.

“This win is thanks to brave, young workers who stood up to one of Australia’s richest hospo bosses,” Mr de Rooy said.

“Young workers wrote to Mr Mantle in April 2022 demanding all zombie agreements within the Group be terminated and that the Union be recognised in the workplace. This decision should prompt Mantle Group to negotiate a union agreement with its workers.”

Mr Sivaraman said the latest FWC decision meant MGH employees could now go on to the better-paid industry award.

“The company will now have to do a complete audit and back pay hundreds of young casual workers who were unlawfully denied penalty rates,” Mr Sivaraman said.

“The agreement undermines the award, short changed workers, and gave Mantle group an unfair competitive advantage. It’s time to euthanise this agreement.

“In over 20 years practising in this area I’ve never seen the Commission find the company’s witnesses to not be credible and to consider referring the Chief of HR to the police.

“It’s a staggering and sad indictment on the HR practices of Mantle group.”

Jimmy’s On The Mall in the Queen Street Mall. Picture: David Clark

MGH has been repeatedly accused of wage theft, often by using Howard-era workplace contracts – the so-called zombie agreements – which include pay and conditions significantly less than the modern Award.

Many former employees have spoken out about their treatment at the company,

Earlier this year, FWC Commissioner Jennifer Hunt said the contracts had no benefit to employees at all.

She said casual level one employees lost more than $11 an hour for working Sundays, compared to the award rate.

On public holidays, the loss to a casual level one employee was in excess of $26 per hour.

“The effect of employees working without payment of penalty rates is staggering,’’ Commissioner Hunt said.