Massage parlour pair handed $37k payout

Two former massage parlour workers have been awarded compensation totalling $37,000.

The Fair Work Ombudsman last year launched court action against the Foot & Thai Massage parlour’s former operators, accusing them of exploiting seven Filipino workers.

Two former massage parlour workers have been awarded compensation totalling $37,000 after a female employee was threatened with deportation to The Philippines after her employer discovered she was in a personal relationship with a male colleague.

The Fair Work Commission awarded $29,225 in compensation to the female massage therapist after finding her dismissal from Foot & Thai Massage in Canberra was harsh, unjust and unreasonable. The commission also found the dismissal of her partner, who was employed to do cleaning and maintenance duties at the business, was harsh and awarded him $8000 in compensation.

The commission heard the company banned its employees from entering into relationships and the female employee fled her job after the relationship was discovered to avoid being sent back to The Philippines.

It said the evidence supported a finding that her decision to walk away from her employment was due to the company “intending to send her back to The Philippines”. The woman earned $165 a month in The Philippines and $2180 a month when in Australia. The commission found the economic impact of sending the woman back to The Philippines would have been significant for her and her family, leaving her with no real choice but to flee her job.

The company said the male worker was sacked over the sale of allegedly stolen goods and ­unexplained absences from work. But the commission found he was not afforded procedural fairness and there was not a valid reason for his sacking.

The Fair Work Ombudsman last year launched court action against the massage parlour’s former operators, accusing them of exploiting seven Filipino workers, underpaying them more than $900,000 and threatening to have their families in The Philippines killed if they complained to the department responsible for immigration.

Former Fair Work ombudsman Natalie James said the case involved “some of the most shocking allegations of exploitation” the agency had encountered. The ombudsman commenced an investigation into the matter in 2016 after receiving a referral from the Australian Federal Police, which investigated the matter but did not lay charges. Seven massage therapists were promised annual salaries of $52,000 and sponsored on 457 visas. They were allegedly required to work an average of 65 to 68 hours a week but were generally paid for only 38 hours per week. The workers were allegedly provided with accommodation at a house in Higgins, where the gates were locked at night.

After going into voluntary ­administration, the business ­entered into a deed of company arrangement in 2016, and the workers were each backpaid a fraction of their entitlements.