Two Vietnamese eateries in Adelaide have been ordered to pay more than $802,000 in penalties and compensation after underpaying and exploiting migrant workers, including demanding they buy bubble tea for their employers.
Viet Quoc Mai, who operated a ‘Mr Viet’ restaurant and a food court outlet, was ordered by the Federal Court to pay 36 underpaid workers $407,546 in back pay, with interest and superannuation.
The Court imposed a $265,000 penalty on Mai and a $130,000 penalty on his wife, Huong Le, who managed the eateries and was involved in the violations.
Some of the offences included providing false records to Fair Work Inspectors, failing to pay minimum wages, overtime, and public holiday rates, and denying employees meal breaks.
Mai also implemented a “strike board system” to punish employees for mistakes made at work. Once an employee accumulated six strikes, they were required to purchase food and beverages for Mai, Le, and/or other staff on duty at the time.
For example, in October 2020, one employee was directed to buy bubble tea for Le and other colleagues working that Saturday and the following Monday. In February 2021, another worker was made to transfer over $50 to Le’s personal bank account to fund more bubble teas for herself and others. The court deemed these actions unreasonable in the circumstances.
The workers were mostly Vietnamese international students under the age of 25 and were paid no more than $15 an hour between January 2018 and September 2021. Five of them were as young as 18 to 20 years old, working as kitchen attendants, bar staff, and waitstaff.
Additionally, Mai made unauthorised wage deductions for minor staff errors, such as incorrectly charging a customer or failing to properly close a refrigerator door.
Mai even attempted to mislead regulators by giving an employee $10,000 as a purported back-payment, only to instruct the worker to return the money—an act Justice Stephen McDonald described as a “calculated and dishonest course of conduct.”
“These substantial penalties highlight that exploiting vulnerable migrant workers is particularly reprehensible conduct that will not be tolerated in Australia,” said Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth.
“We treat cases involving underpayments and use of false or misleading records impacting migrant workers particularly seriously, because we are conscious that they can be vulnerable due to lack of awareness of their rights or a reluctance to complain.”
McDonald noted that the underpaid workers were visa holders from non-English-speaking backgrounds and accepted that Mai had exploited the employer-employee relationship, taking advantage of a power imbalance that favoured the employer.
The judge emphasised the need to deter similar conduct, particularly in the fast food and restaurant sectors, where employees are often vulnerable to exploitation and may be unwilling or unable to speak out.
The affected workers were entitled to pay and conditions under the Restaurant Industry Award 2010 and 2020, the Fast Food Industry Award 2010, and the Fair Work Act.
The Fair Work Ombudsman secured early $23 million in penalties in similar cases in the seven financial years to June 2024.