The former operators of the Canberra massage parlour have to face the Federal Court for underpaying seven Filipino workers a total of $912,809.
Also facing Court is a company formerly operated by Collin Kenneth Elvin, Foot & Thai Massage Pty Ltd, and the massage parlour’s then supervisor, Filipino man Jun Millard Puerto, who was sponsored by Mr Elvin’s company on a 457 skilled worker visa.
Six women and one man aged in their 20s and 30s who spoke limited English were allegedly required to work an average of 65 to 68 hours per week.
The workers in the massage parlour were generally working from 9.45 am to 10/10:30 pm six days per week, but were paid for only 38 hours per week, an investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman has found.
The Fair Work Ombudsman investigation commenced in 2016 after receiving referrals from the Australian Federal Police, which investigated the matter but criminal charges were not laid.
Fair Work inspectors found seven workers from the Philippines were allegedly recruited and promised annual salaries of $52,000.
It is also alleged that Mr Elvin’s company sponsored the workers on 457 visas and made travel arrangements to Australia, with Mr Puerto accompanying them.
Six of the employees were also allegedly required to pay $800 per fortnight of their wages back over a nine-month period when Mr Elvin deemed the shop was not getting enough income and customers.
The workers were allegedly provided accomodation at a property in a Higgins suburb, where the Filipino workers were locked overnight in an attempt to restrict their movement outside working hours.
The Filipino workers were allegedly transported in a van from the Higgins property to the massage parlour and back, each working day.
Each of the workers had financially dependent family members in the Philippines and routinely remit part of the wages they earned to their families.
The FWO found the former operator and then massage supervisor have allegedly threatened the Filipino workers to be sent back to the Philippines if they report their working conditions and that they directly or indirectly threatened the workers that Mr Elvin would arrange to have their families killed if they complained to the Department of Home Affairs (formerly the Department of Immigration and Border Protection).
The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges Mr Elvin, Mr Puerto and Foot & Thai Massage Pty Ltd breached the provisions of the Fair Work Act that make it unlawful to coerce employees or take adverse action against them to prevent them from filing a complaint about their workplace conditions.
This also amounted to workplace discrimination against each of the employees, because of their race and/or national extraction and/or social origin.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James says the matter involves some of the most shocking allegations of exploitation her Agency had ever encountered.
“We allege that these seven workers were deliberately targeted because of their vulnerability and exploited for profit,” Ms James said.
“This type of conduct has no place in Australia and it deserves utter condemnation and appropriate sanctioning.”
The Fair Work Ombudsman is seeking penalties of up to $54,000 per contravention for Foot & Thai Massage Pty Ltd and up to $10,800 per contravention against Mr Elvin and Mr Puerto for multiple alleged contraventions of workplace laws.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is also seeking Court Orders requiring Mr Elvin and his company to back-pay the workers in full and to pay additional compensation to the employees for the loss or damage they allegedly suffered as a result of some of the alleged breaches.
The matter is listed for a case management hearing in the Federal Court in Canberra on August 21.
After going into voluntary administration, Foot & Thai Massage Pty Ltd entered into a Deed of Company Arrangement in 2016 - and in 2017 the workers were each back-paid a fraction of their entitlements. However, they are allegedly still owed a total of $767,926, with individual amounts outstanding ranging from $92,136 to $125,669.
ALSO READ:
