Paddington restaurant faces mega fines for underpaying workers

A Paddington restaurant which has allegedly underpaid workers and contravened the Fair Work Act, could face fines ten times the norm for its breaches.

According to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), formal cautions had been given previously to Moga Paddington. Increased penalties would apply with the restaurant accused of  ignoring these cautions and contravening the Protecting Vulnerable Workers amendments introduced in 2017.

It is alleged the Japanese restaurant and sushi bar failed to pay penalty rates for weekend and overtime work. The alleged 34 victims were mostly visa holders on 417 working holiday visas who worked as waiters, cooks, kitchenhands and dishwashers.

The amendments to the Protecting Vulnerable Workers regulations, part of the Fair Work Act, were made in the wake of the 7-11 wage scandal in 2015. 7-Eleven had to repay $173 million to workers after some franchisees falsified records.

According to Industrial advocate Miles Heffernan from IR Claims, “The FWO’s action against 7-Eleven saw 4,000 employees receive $173,000,000 in underpaid wages, interest and superannuation. The days of employers taking advantage of workers on visas are over. The systemic exploitation of vulnerable workers witnessed earlier should be consigned to the past with the level of penalties now available to the FWO.

“All workers in this country enjoy the same rights, regardless of nationality or visa status.

“Employers face serious penalties if they fail to pay workers properly and keep required records of those payments.”

Moga is alleged to have underpaid workers from $58 to $9,588, however the company did make partial payments following the FWO taking legal action.

Under the new laws, Moga could face a fine of $630,000 per breach in addition to back-paying the staff in full.

Irit Jackson, 24th June 2021