Dragon Tea House has been fined $6,460 after failing to pay an $850 on-the-spot fine for not issuing pay slips to two Chinese workers.
An Infringement Notice was issued to the business and its sole director, Xia Xu Zhou, after Fair Work inspectors found pay slips were not issued to two employees at the Chinese restaurant on Pulteney Street.
However, the fine was not paid by the due date and as a result the Industrials Relations Court handed down a $5,100 penalty against Dragon Tea House, and a further $1,360 penalty against Zhou.
Industrial Magistrate Stephen Lieschke found that Zhou had deliberately contravened workplace law and tried to deceive and mislead Fair Work inspectors about whether pay slips were issued.
One of the staff members was a restaurant manager on a 457 visa, and the other was a front of house employee on a student visa.
The staff members were “vulnerable foreign workers who were in a poor position to check they were not being cheated out of their lawful minimum wages,” Lieschke said.
“It is particularly concerning when vulnerable overseas workers are not provided with pay slips, because they are often not fully aware of their rights and entitlements under Australian workplace laws,” Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said.
