1/3 of the Masterchef judgernaut, George Calombaris, is in hot water after an administrative cock-up resulted in a huge number of his staff being underpaid to the tune of $2.6 million.
He apologised to 162 members of his 430-strong team for the bungle that affected more than one third of his company MAdE Establishment – which houses Melbourne foodie hotspots Gazi, Jimmy Grants, Hellenic Republic and The Press Club – in an email that’s since been shared around, saying he’s “devastated”.
“You, our amazing team, are the key to our success. I am so sorry we have messed up and let you down on a fundamental issue,” he wrote. “I am devastated by what has happened and we have been working extremely hard to fix this. I want to be clear that getting it right means ensuring that every single one of our team members is paid what they are entitled to under the industry award, and that any outstanding money owed to staff is rectified as our highest priority.”
Most staff were underpaid or missed out on overtime from as far back as 2011, while a small number were overpaid (they won’t be asked to repay the money, MAdE has said).
The pay gap was discovered after an independent analysis commissioned of the company, which found “discrepancies with the payroll process determining how employees were classified and how overtime was calculated.”
MAdE has blamed its restaurants’ rapid growth in the company – and subpar HR systems – on the oversight, though the Fair Work Ombudsman did flag the potential issue back in 2015.
*cue Gary‘s look of eternal disappointment*
Source: news.com.au.
Photo: Hyundai.
