7-Eleven store owner and operator, Harmandeep Singh Sarkaria will face the Federal Circuit Court over allegations that he underpaid two migrant workers almost $50,000 and created erroneous records for the workers.
The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) who initiated the legal proceedings has alleged that Mr Sarkaria short-changed one migrant employee from Pakistan $43,633 between 2012 and 2014 while underpaying another employee on an international student visa $5793 between 2013 and 2014.
The underpayments were the result of workers being paid rates equivalent to $10 per hour. The workers were entitled to standard hourly rates of at least $22 per hour.
According to the FWO, erroneous entries were made into the 7-Eleven head office payroll system understating the hours each employee worked giving the appearance that the employees were paid $25 per hour.
Mr Sarkaria faces maximum penalties of between $5100 and $10,200 per breach and his company $25,500 to $51,000 per breach.
