A married couple is claiming $700,000 in unpaid wages from one of Australia’s one of largest student accommodation providers.
Sri Lankan couple, Kasun Rajapaksha and his wife Sandeepani Warnakulasooriya, claim they accepted a shared job at UniLodge’s student apartment block in Melbourne after being promised a combined salary of $80,000, free accommodation including water and electricity.
The couple, in the statement of claims filed before the Federal Circuit Court, has alleged that most of their salary was deducted for rent which left them with just $108 and $1886 in superannuation from September 2010 until October 2011.
The couple claims they were paid a total of $85,784.40 gross plus superannuation between October 26, 2011 and April 5, 2016. But $74,336 was allegedly deducted from their wages for rent.
They claim to have worked more than 125 hours each week jointly, performing duties such as cleaning, checking common areas, lockouts or emergencies, coordinating maintenance, removing furniture, completing daily logs and reports etc.
Other than when they were on holiday, the couple claim they had no opportunity to go out together at night.
"We were expected to be at work all the time – every night, every morning, 24/7 on weekends – we were not allowed to leave," Fairfax Media quoted Mr Rajapaksha as saying.
"It felt like a prison," he said.
Mr Rajapaksha said he and his wife did not realise at the time how the system worked in Australia.
"We kept trusting that UniLodge would look after us the way they promised," he said. "Now I know better and I can't believe that UniLodge treated us so badly."
A spokeswoman for UniLodge said it fulfils the legal employment workplace obligations required by the law.
"The documents were received late last week and are currently with our legal representatives for consideration," she told Fairfax Media.
"UniLodge is a reputable organisation who fulfil their legal employment workplace obligations under the current legislative requirements."
Earlier this year, the company was forced to pay $90,000 after an investigation by Victoria’s consumer watchdog found UniLodge Australia breached tenancy and consumer laws in one of its Melbourne blocks when the company failed to lodge the rental bonds with the authority.
