The owner of a sydney cafe has allegedly threatened to put his business into liquidation if the Fair Work Ombudsman proceeds with legal action over underpayment allegations made by a former worker.
The owner operator of Wild Sage Cafe in Cammeray, Arthur Antonopoulos, and his company Blue Hornsby Pty Ltd, are facing Federal Court proceedings for failing to reimburse a former pastry chef who was allegedly underpaid $22,329 between November 2012 and May last year.
The former chef, an international student from India who was on a 457 working visa at the time, raised her concerns with the Ombudsman after her employment at the cafe ended.
Following an investigation into the allegations, Antonopoulos allegedly told inspectors he would put his company into liquidation should legal action concerning the underpayments take place.
Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) Natalie James said the inspectors attempted to resolve the matter but the owner and company had not co-operated, and are now facing a maximum penalty of $5100 and $25,500 respectively.
“We prefer to assist employers to rectify inadvertent non-compliance issues, but we are prepared to take legal action against employers who refuse to co-operate,” James said.
Will Snow, senior…
