The Fair Work Ombudsman has commenced legal action against Miel Container Pty Ltd and HWMJ Pty Ltd, which operate the Miel Container outlets in the Brisbane CBD and Sunnybank, respectively.
It is alleged Miel Container Pty Ltd underpaid eight employees at the CBD outlet $111,652.09 over a three-year period between 2013 and 2016 and that HWMJ Pty Ltd underpaid five employees at the Sunnybank outlet $44,162.20 over a seven-month period in 2016. Alleged underpayments of individual workers range from $3212 to $25,432.
The allegedly underpaid employees who employed on a casual basis in kitchen and customer service roles are all South Korean nationals who were in Australia on working holiday and student visas at the time. Most spoke limited English and one junior employee at the Brisbane CBD outlet was aged as young as 19.
Inspectors allegedly discovered that employees had unlawfully not been paid any wages for up to seven days of work performed during ‘trial periods’ and were then generally paid flat rates ranging from $10 to $16 an hour for all work performed.
Also facing Court is Brisbane man Sangmoon ‘Johnny’ Na, the sole director of both companies and an owner of the stores, for allegedly being involved in some underpayments, as well as record-keeping and pay slip contraventions at the two outlets. Also facing Court is his brother Sanghoon Na, an owner and manager of the Sunnybank outlet, for allegedly being involved in some record-keeping contraventions at the Sunnybank outlet.
Miel Container Pty Ltd and HWMJ Pty Ltd face penalties of up to $54,000 per contravention, while Sangmoon Na and Sanghoon Na each face penalties of up to $10,800 per contravention.
“We treat exploitation of overseas workers particularly seriously because we know they can be vulnerable if they are not fully aware of their rights, face language barriers or are reluctant to complain,” Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Kristen Hannah says
“We are committed to actively pursuing and holding to account any employer in Australia who thinks they can get away exploiting overseas workers.”
