Two former Gami Chicken & Beer franchisees and their HR employee have received a total of $76,387 in fines for workplace breaches.
Vanna Taing and Brandon Bui formerly operated the Gami-Southland outlet at the Westfield Southland Shopping Centre in Cheltenham.
In 2024 the pair was fined $15,000 and $12,500 respectively. The Fair Work Ombudsman went to court over falsifying and failing to keep proper records and failing to comply with a Compliance Notice.
In a concluded appeal, the Federal Court has now ordered Taing and Bui to jointly pay the 16 kitchen and wait staff a total of $44,887 in entitlements still owing to them.
Gary Lai, who was responsible for HR, received a $4,000 fine for his involvement in the false records breach.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said “When employers use false records to try to thwart our investigations and when Compliance Notices are not followed, we will continue to take legal action.
“Using false records is always unacceptable and our experienced inspectors will detect them.”
Booth said acting to protect young workers and visa holders and improve compliance in the fast food, restaurants and cafés sector is a top priority for the FWO.
