The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured record penalties against the former operators of several Sushi Bay outlets in New South Wales, Darwin, and Canberra.
Ex-operator Yi Jeong ‘Rebecca’ Shin is the sole owner and director of Sushi Bay Pty Ltd (in liq), Sushi Bay ACT Pty Ltd (in liq), Auskobay Pty Ltd (in liq), and Auskoja Pty Ltd (in liq), which is where the contraventions took place.
163 staff were deliberately underpaid more than $650,000, many of whom were Korean nationals on student, holiday, and 457 skilled worker visas.
Individual payments ranged from $48 all the way up to $83,968. Staff were often underpaid flat rates in cash without overtime.
The workplace breaches took place between February 2016 and January 2020, with the companies also falsifying records to conceal the underpayments.
Shin and another company associated with her which operated Sushi Bay restaurants in Queensland had failed audits and been cautioned in recent years.
The breaches were considered ‘serious contraventions’, which means penalties issued are up to 10 times higher than the norm.
“The record penalties imposed in this matter drive home the fact that deliberately and repeatedly exploiting workers, including vulnerable migrant workers, is reprehensible conduct that will not be tolerated in Australia,” said Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth.
“If you deliberately underpay migrant workers and try to cover it up with false or misleading records you will be found out and will pay a heavy price.
“We treat cases involving underpayment of migrant workers particularly seriously, because we are conscious that they can be vulnerable due to factors such as a lack of awareness of their entitlements or a reluctance to complain.”
Justice Anna Katzmann ordered the companies to back-pay the workers in full. However with many of the companies now in liquidation, Justice Katzmann has ordered Shin’s penalty of $1.6 million to be used to pay the workers if the companies do not pay.
“This is yet another case of the exploitation of immigrant workers and a shameless but ultimately unsuccessful attempt to conceal it”, said Justice Katzmann, who found Shin had “a history of dishonesty”.
Justice Katzmann said there was a need “to send a strong signal to employers in the industry that conduct of this kind is unacceptable and will not be tolerated”.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has recently established a new tripartite reference group to help improve compliance in the fast food, restaurants, and cafes sector.
The group will enable increased collaboration with key sector stakeholders and provide opportunities for them issue advice and feedback to the FWO on workplace relations issues.
