George ‘Masterchef’ Calombaris Just Got Hit With A Massive Fine For Underpaying His Workers
A $200k fine for underpaying workers by $7.8million.
For the last two years, George Calombaris of Masterchef fame has been involved in a lengthy dispute over whether or not he underpaid the workers at his restaurant empire.
In 2017, an independent investigation into the payroll system at Calombaris’ MAdE entertainment group discovered a number of pay discrepencies. While some staff members had been overpaid, a number had been underpaid.
As The Age reports, at the time, estimates overseen by Calmobaris suggested 162 workers had been underpaid around $2.6 million, with a “historically poor [pay] process” blamed for causing the issue.
Now, however, that estimate has been discovered to be sorely lacking. Calombaris has admitted to the The Fair Work Ombudsman that he owes 515 current and former members of staff upwards of $7.5 million dollars.
Glad to see the #MasterchefAu contestants got a real-life industry experience in last night’s episode, when they worked the entire service of George Calombaris’ restaurant unpaid. https://t.co/ytrk7ar9uP
— Sophie Verass (@sophieverass) July 17, 2019
According to the Ombudsman, MAdE was failing to meet penalty or minimum award rates, not keeping accurate logs of staff members’ hours, and denying overtime.
In response, Calombaris has been slapped with a series of penalties. He must pay $200,000, on top of the wages owed, as a “contrition payment”. Additionally, as reported by the ABC, he must “complete speaking arrangements to educate the restaurant industry on the importance of workplace compliance.” So like, make sure you look out for the sight of a wage-denying boss being forced to eat crow in front of the entire industry.
So yeah, quick reminder: pay your staff properly.
Lead Image: Flickr / Tourism Victoria