A Melbourne based operator of two La Porchetta franchises – the recommended business venture for people who eat, live and love Italian food – has been served with a vengeful dish of legal action by the Fair Work Ombudsman watchdog after it was revealed that potential horrible boss of the year Ruby Chand had been underpaying staff by a combined total of $250,000.
His justification? He gave his primarily teenage cohort of workers free pizza and soft drink to supplement the monetary difference in the actual wages owed to them. Chand, who is alleged to have underpaid up to 111 past and present staff members, maintains ignorance of his legal obligation to pay people with actual cash money and says it actually cost him more to provide staff with free pizza than to pay them according to the figures stipulated in the state minimum wage guidelines.
To which we say you can’t buy Apple products with pizza.
According to The Age: “Mr Chand said he did not want to go to court to fight the
allegations, and that he had simply not realised he was underpaying his
staff. “It was a simple error.” And he said the value of meals he provided had cost him more
than the money he would have paid out. “Giving them food I lost more
money,” Mr Chand said.”
Good luck finding legal counsel willing to accept payment in garlic bread.
Via The Age
