Restaurant owner first to be charged under new wage theft laws
Wage theft is now a crime in Australia, punishable by law.
That law will be tested when a Victorian restaurateur faces court after being criminally charged for allegedly failing to pay staff properly.
The restaurant owner faces up 10 years in jail and more than $1 million in corporate fines if found guilty.
Gaurav Setia owner of regional restaurant the Macedon Lounge faces 94 criminal charges filed by the Wage Inspectorate Victoria in the Magistrates’ Court.
Setia is charged with allegedly failing to pay more than $7000 owed to four staff members over five months.
The laws introduced by the Victorian government in 2020, came into effect in July 2021 and make wage theft a criminal offence.
The Macedon Lounge is accused of breaching the laws by dishonestly underpaying staff entitlements, which include wages, superannuation and penalty rates, between July and November last year.
Setia is the company’s sole officer and will be the first person under the laws to be charged.
While wage theft is also a crime in Queensland, no restaurant or business owner has faced prosecuted.
“Victorians can be confident the Wage Inspectorate is doggedly investigating wage theft reports and intends to bring further appropriate matters before the court,” Wage Inspectorate Victoria commissioner Robert Hortle said in a statement.
“These are the only stand-alone, criminal wage theft laws in Australia. There are serious penalties for dishonestly withholding employee entitlements in Victoria.”
A report by The Age shows more than two dozen companies have underpaid staff since 2015, including major supermarkets Coles and Woolworths as well as hospitality giants Heston Blumenthal and George Calombaris. The report did not suggest deliberate underpayments and apologies and repayments have since been issued to affected staff.
“While we have rising prices, the last thing you need is the employer stealing money to grow their business. If this is being deliberately done, the court should throw the book at them,” Victorian Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari said.
Hilakari has been a major advocate for law reform and said the Macedon Lounge case could be the first of many.
Macedon Lounge was forced to close recently due to staff shortages
Jonathan Jackson - 29-11-22
