Fair Work Ombudsman orders Four Seasons Australia Pty Ltd to pay Sushi 1 and Gold Coast staff properly   
Gold Coast Bulletin
August 16, 2016

A GOLD Coast-based sushi shop operator has been ordered to compensate three employees it underpaid by more than $50,000.

A newly released Fair Work Ombudsman judgment requires Four Seasons Australia Pty Ltd to cough up $26,226.22 to one staff member, $18,460.23 to a second and $6551.45 to a third staffer.

Four Seasons has a processing factory and head office at Southport, with Sushi 1 takeaway outlets at Harbour Town and Tweed.

The employees were not named but the third staffer, who worked at the Southport processing centre for five months, was described as Japanese on a working holiday visa.

The other two underpaid workers were Japanese permanent residents working at the company’s Buranda-based Sushi 1 at Woolloongabba for about 21 months each.

The underpayments stemmed from a raft of contraventions that the company admitted.

Four Seasons conceded it failed to have written part-time agreements, underpaid the staff on base hourly rates, penalty rates and overtime rates, plus failed to provide adequate days off.

The company paid the two worst-affected employees $16.37 an hour – less than the base rate – and stuck to it regardless of whether the staff worked weekends, public holidays or overtime.

The third worker was paid a base rate of $13.50 at all times, despite being entitled to at least $17.29.   

The rate should have jumped to $25.94 for overtime and $43.23 for public holidays.

Four Seasons also admitted failing to pay out the three workers for annual leave entitlements. 

On top of ordering Four Seasons to pay the employees what they were owed, the Ombudsman’s decision also required a $2000 donation to the Working Women’s Centre Queensland to fund education about workplace rights.

The Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman began its investigation after two workers alleged underpayment in November, 2015.

The Southport factory worker lodged a similar complaint in May, last year.

Four Seasons Australia director Young Hun Cha apologised, giving a commitment it would not happen again, the Ombudsman’s judgment said.

Mr Hun Cha had written letters of apology to the trio.

Despite repeated messages and texts to Mr Hun Cha, he failed to respond other than to say, “Sorry, can’t talk right now. Call back later.”