Brisbane Businessman Sheng-Chieg Lo who owns and operates the 7-Eleven outlet on Boundary Road, West End was penalised $65, 058 and his company, Mai Pty Ltd was penalised a record $340, 290 by Federal Circuit Court for systematically exploiting staff.
Federal Circuit Court judge Michael Jarrett found that Lo and his company had “systematically exploited” employees by implementing “a business model that relied upon a deliberate disregard of the employees’ workplace entitlements”.
Lo paid employees flat rates as low as $13 an hour and had tried to conceal the underpayments by creating false records and making entries into the 7-Eleven head office payroll system.
Judge Jarrett described it as “a sophisticated system of data manipulation and false record keeping” and the extent of the deception only came to light because of the persistence of Fair Work inspectors.
Lo underpaid 12 employees, including a number of international students, a total of $82,661 between September, 2013 and September, 2014.
After initially providing inspectors with false records to try to cover-up the underpayments, Lo showed inspectors selective bank records as evidence that his employees had been back-paid.
However, when he provided the records to inspectors, Lo knew that he had already arranged for the employees to pay thousands of dollars back to him and his wife.
After inspectors learnt of the conduct, Lo again tried to deceive inspectors by denying he had required employees to back-pay wages, saying it “would be wrong” to do so. He later admitted what he had done.
Judge Jarrett said the “facts reveal a contemptuous disregard of Australian workplace laws”.
Lo underpaid 12 employees, including a number of international students, a total of $82,661 between September, 2013 and September, 2014.
More than $35,000 of the underpayment remains outstanding. Judge Jarrett has issued an Order that Mai Pty Ltd fully rectify the underpayment.
This penalty against Lo and Mai Pty Ltd is now the highest Australian and Queensland penalty achieved by the Fair Work Ombudsman for any of its legal work.
Employers and employees seeking assistance can visit www.fairwork.gov.au or contact the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94.
An interpreter service is available by calling 13 14 50 and the website also has materials translated into 27 different languages.
