The owners of Hotel Frangos and Cafe Koukla, Louise Melotte and Travis Melotte have been fined over $100,000 for underpaying nearly 100 staff. The Federal Circuit and Family Court found that between May 2017 and July 2019 staff were underpaid a total $321,000. The Melotte’s have been ordered to pay the fine and pay employees their entitlements.
The case against the couple was brought by the Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth.
According to the Court record,
“The first respondent, Ms Melotte, was the sole director and controlling mind of a company which ran a hotel, restaurant and cafe. The second respondent, Mr Melotte, was responsible for the day to day operation of the business. The company contravened the Act in various ways. Ms Melotte was involved in all of the contraventions and Mr Melotte was involved in two of them. The company has gone into liquidation but the business is continuing to operate through another corporate entity.”
The couple admitted to a range of underpayments and unreasonable requirements for their full time, part time and casual employees. This included failure to pay the minimum wage, failure to pay termination payments, failure to pay over time, failure to pay public holiday rates, failure to pay casual loadings, failure to pay weekend, night and evening rates, failure to pay no break penalties, and failure to pay annual leave and annual leave loadings.
The Court proceedings indicate that the Melotte’s knew their systems were inadequate and that they were underpaying their employees.
The Melotte’s also admitted that two migrant workers sponsored by the couple’s company were required to work unreasonable hours above the expected 38 hours – sometimes as much as 64 hours a week. These two Nepalese cooks were dependent on the Company for their right to remain in Australia. They were underpaid $32,000 and $48,000.
The impact on the two migrant workers was significant. Court records indicate they suffered exhaustion, social isolation, poor sleep, weight loss, feeling sad and worried and family disruption.
The Court found that for a number of these relatively low paid employees the underpayments were substantial, in some cases amounting to more than more than 50 percent of their entitlements.
According to the Court, the Melotte’s admissions and cooperation came very late in the piece. While the Melotte’s made apologies in affidavits, there was no evidence that they had apologised directly to their employees for their conduct.
The Judge, Heather Riley, concluded,
“All in all, I consider that Mr and Ms Melotte are not particularly remorseful, though they certainly regret being caught.”
Fair Work Ombudsman, Anna Booth, who brought the case to trial, welcomed the Court’s findings.
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