Former Brisbane Coffee Club operator fined $180,000 for ‘exploitative’ cashback scheme

A FORMER Coffee Club operator has been fined more than $180,000 for forcing an overseas worker to pay back $18,000 in wages in cash.

Coffee Club. Picture: Anthony Weate

A FORMER Brisbane Coffee Club franchisee has been fined more than $180,000 for forcing an overseas worker to pay back $18,000 in wages in cash.

Saandeep Chokhani, who formerly owned and ran the Coffee Club at Nundah Village Shopping Centre with his wife, threatened to take steps to have the Indian cook’s 457 skilled worker visa cancelled if he refused.

The cook, in his late 20s, approached the Fair Work Ombudsman for help after being terminated without notice in November 2015. The watchdog took action against Mr Chokhani and his company Gaura Nitai Pty Ltd. last month. They ceased operating the franchise soon after.

According to the FWO, the man’s contract stated he would be paid an annual salary of $53,900 on a weekly basis, but he went for long periods without receiving any wages.

In 2015, after paying the worker $19,334 by electronic transfer for one four-month period the previous year, Mr Chokhani then told the worker to withdraw $18,000 in cash and repay it to him or his 457 visa would be cancelled.

The worker withdrew $18,000 in cash the same day and repaid it to Mr Chokhani. Overall, the worker was underpaid a total of $23,546 between September 2013 and November 2015, which has now been back-paid in full.

Mr Chokhani has been penalised $30,000 and his company has been penalised a further $150,900 in the Federal Circuit Court.

“The exploitation of workers from other countries who are inspired to live and work in Australia with the hope of achieving permanent residency needs to be discouraged, in the strongest of terms whenever it is apparent that it has occurred. This is one of those cases,” Judge Michael Jarrett said.

“[The worker] was in a bind. He could not leave his employment because if he did so he would breach a condition of his visa and his ability to remain in Australia would be seriously compromised. He was effectively working for nothing.”

The worker told the court that the exploitation had led to him incurring credit card debt and needing to borrow money from family and friends.

Judge Jarrett described the requirement placed on the worker to pay back his wages as “especially egregious”, saying it was “an inappropriate and grotesque exploitation of the power imbalance”.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the penalties imposed send a message about the seriousness of exploiting the vulnerability of visa holders.

“We will do everything within our power to pursue any employer who thinks they can exploit the power imbalance they have over migrant workers they employ,” Ms James said. “Any unscrupulous employer tempted to engage in this sort of conduct should think again because there are serious consequences for this type of behaviour.”

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