Migrant workers at a Japanese restaurant on the Gold Coast were being paid $8 an hour before the owner of the eatery was caught and fined $284,000.
Shigeo Ishiyama, the owner and operator of Samurais Paradise at Surfers Paradise, has been fined $38,000 and his business slapped with a further $246,400 penalty by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The business was accused of using fake records to cover up its tracks in paying workers below legal rates.
The Australian Federal Court handed down the penalties following an investigation into Mr Ishiyama and his company underpaying nine employees a total of $59,080 over a period of four months in 2015, the Ombudsman said in a statement on Thursday.
Most of the employees were Japanese citizens and were working in Australia under the 417 working holiday visa.
They were performing cooking and waiting duties at the Samurais Paradise and Japanese Curry House Kawaii during a period Fair Work inspectors were carrying out audits on Gold Coast restaurants.
Inspectors asked for records and found underpayments, which resulted in Mr Ishiyama making back-payments to the employees.
He was also advised to take steps to oblige by workplace laws, which Mr Ishiyama later provided records allegedly showing he was paying all staff correctly.
However, upon following up to ensure Mr Ishiyama was following protocol, auditors found he provided false records on two occasions.
The Federal Court found he was paying employees flat rates of between $8 and $11 for all hours. Under the Restaurant Industry Award 2010, the employees were entitled to a minimum hourly rate of $18.47 and penalty rates starting at $26.03.
Judge Salvatore Vasta described the offence as "heinous" and claimed it offered his small business an unfair competitive edge in the market.
“The aggravating circumstances of the falsifying of records and the provision on two occasions of false records, shows that this case is in a very serious bracket,” Judge Vasta said, according to Fair Work.
“The making of false records, as I have already said, is a most heinous offence. The Respondent was warned not to make false records, but did any way and those false records gave quite an improper picture of what was happening.”
“When one is looking at a small business, the temptation is great that such a saving to them would give them a competitive edge of all the other businesses in their area… Whilst one applauds persons trying to stay competitive, this cannot be done at the expense of employees and in breach of the Fair Work Act," he added.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the near maximum penalty handed down to the business and operator showed it is not acceptable to pay overseas workers the 'going rate'.
