Gloria Jean’s outlet fined for paying workers $8 an hour

A GLORIA Jean’s outlet has been fined $110,000 for paying staff as little as $8 an hour to make customers’ coffees.

A Fair Work Ombudsman investigation found that 22 workers were short-changed over a two-year period.

They were owed $83,566 between them as the owners of the Gloria Jean’s franchises in Caulfield underpaid them between July 2011 and April 2013.

Tsiniman Fu and Ping Ostrovskih paid back the wages only when caught by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Federal Circuit Court Judge Grant Riethmuller roasted Fu and Ostrovskih, noting that they had previously underpaid workers when they operated another company.

Judge Riethmuller found that the pair deliberately underpaid workers when their coffee shop was performing badly.

The court found that a “conscious decision was made to reduce wages when the business was not producing a sufficient income”.

“It is common for employees, particularly in industries where pay rates are low and workforces are largely casual, to be wary of expressing dissatisfaction for fear that their employment will not continue,” Judge Riethmuller wrote.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the agency repeatedly had to demand repayment for the workers.

“We treat underpayments of young and overseas workers is particularly serious because they can be vulnerable if they are not fully aware of their workplace rights or are reluctant to complain,” she said.

Source : Herald Sun   Stephen Drilll    February 10th 2015