Melbourne restaurant fined $100,000 for ‘grossly’ exploiting foreign worker

A POPULAR Melbourne restaurant has been fined more than $100,000 for “grossly” exploiting a foreign worker on a working holiday visa.

Chicken drumsticks at Kitchen Republik. Picture: Andrew Tauber

A MELBOURNE restaurant has been fined more than $100,000 for “grossly” exploiting a foreign employee on a working holiday visa.

The operators of Kitchen Republik in Box Hill, a popular ‘hawker-style’ Taiwanese and Malaysian restaurant, have been ordered to pay $107,551 after a court found a kitchen hand was underpaid a total of $33,169 over a period of nine months in 2014 and 2015.

The 22-year-old worker, who spoke limited English and has since returned to Taiwan, was paid flat hourly rates of $10 and $11, well below the industry award of $17.49 to $18.02 for ordinary hours and penalty rates ranging from $22.53 to $45.05.

The worker completed more than 770 hours of overtime, an average of about 20 hours overtime per week, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Judge Heather Riley said “the underpayments of minimum wages were very significant and deliberate”. “Paying $10 or $11 per hour is an egregious departure from the mandated minimum rates of pay,” Judge Riley said.

“[The employee] was a young and vulnerable worker, who the respondent grossly exploited. It is necessary for the court to signal its disapproval of such conduct in strong terms, both to the respondent and to the industry generally.”

A director of the restaurant’s parent company, Food Republic Australia Pty Ltd, gave affidavit evidence that the contraventions were “totally unacceptable”.

“I accept that he does feel apologetic and remorseful. However, there was no evidence of any apology to [the worker],” Judge Riley said.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the case highlighted that all employees, regardless of their visa status, must be paid correct wages.

“We treat cases involving underpayment of overseas workers particularly seriously because we are conscious that they can be vulnerable due to a lack of awareness of their entitlements, language barriers and a reluctance to complain,” she said.

The company rectified the underpayments in full last year. Food Republic also admitted failing to provide payment in lieu of notice and untaken annual leave entitlements on the worker’s termination, and record-keeping and pay-slip contraventions. The worker was not given any pay slips during either of the employment periods.

Ms James said the case also served as a reminder to employers about the important legal obligation to keep records. “It is completely unacceptable for an employer to not issue pay slips,” Ms James said.

The Fair Work Ombudsman says it recovered more than $3 million for all visa holders in 2015-16, with $1.37 million returned to 417 visa holders.

Originally published as Melbourne restaurant fined $100,000 for ‘grossly’ exploiting foreign worker