A Gold Coast restaurant and its director will face court over underpayments totalling $54,470.
Saffron Indian Gourmet Pty Ltd (Saffron) and Sridhar Penumechchu, the restaurant’s director and sole shareholder, were hit with a Court-Enforceable Undertaking (EU) earlier this year after Fair Work Inspectors found 22 employees had been underpaid.
The EU required Saffron to back-pay the employees in full and make a $25,000 donation to the Gold Coast Community Legal Centre. The FWO is now alleging the terms have not been met, with more than $49,000 of the underpayments still outstanding alongside the donation.
As is usual, the restaurant was also required to engage an external professional to complete two audits of the pay and conditions of all employees; commission workplace relations training for all managers, payroll and human resource staff; and demonstrate how it is complying with the Fair Work Act. The FWO is alleging these terms were not met either.
The FWO is seeking court orders requiring Saffron and Penumechchu to comply with the terms of the EU not yet fulfilled. A directions hearing is listed in the Federal Circuit Court in Brisbane on 27 March 2020.