ARTICLE · 20 JULY 2020

Hero Sushi slammed for exploiting and underpaying vulnerable workers

Coleman Greig Lawyers

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The Court imposed one of the largest penalties on three franchise operators and key individuals in the management team.

AustraliaEmployment and HR

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Assisted by Kristina Tato

The Federal Court of Australia has provided a timely reminder to businesses about exploiting vulnerable workers and the severe penalties attached to producing false records to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) in an attempt to conceal underpayments.

In the case of Fair Work Ombudsman v HSCC Pty Ltd [2020] the Court imposed one of the largest penalties on three Franchise operators of Hero Sushi and key individuals in their management team.

Fair Work Inspectors (FWIs) discovered underpayments at Hero Sushi outlets in Newcastle, the Gold Coast, and Canberra when the Regulator was targeting sushi businesses. The audits revealed that 94 employees across the three Hero Sushi franchise stores were underpaid:

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