This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Unions have called for George Calombaris to be sacked as a MasterChef judge after it was revealed his companies had underpaid staff at his restaurants by nearly $8m.

That figure dwarfed the amount of $2.6m paid to more than 160 people employed by his restaurant empire after it was revealed they had been underpaid overtime for up to six years.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has fined his Made Establishment company $200,000 after a four-year investigation that uncovered a failure to pay award rates, penalty rates, casual loadings, overtime and other allowances.

Calombaris must implement new payroll and compliance systems across his stable of restaurants that include Hellenic Republic, Gazi and Jimmy Grants.

George Calombaris's restaurant empire hands staff $2.6m in unpaid overtime Read more

But the United Voice union said the punishment was manifestly inadequate.

Its national secretary, Jo-anne Schofield, said: “We are truly shocked at the full extent of wage theft at Made Establishment.

“For the seriousness of this crime, a $200,000 fine is not sufficient.

“If someone deliberately took $1,000 out of someone else’s bank account, there would be a high likelihood of a criminal conviction for theft. But when you’re a multimillionaire restaurateur / celebrity chef you can take $7.83m in wages from your workers and get away with a ‘contrition payment’.

“And you get to keep your TV show, your huge profile and mansion and keep raking in cash off the back of hardworking chefs, waitstaff and bartenders.

“All the while you’ve also been campaigning to slash the penalty rates for all hospitality workers.

Former Hellenic Republic worker and Hospo Voice leader Orlaith Belfrage said Calombaris should pay a “serious price” for wage theft.

“He should be taken off MasterChef. How many more excuses does George get?

The president of the ACTU, Michele O’Neil, said the case was not an isolated incident, but showed underpayment was a business model.

“Wage theft is systemic across entire industries. We need harsher penalties, directors to be held responsible for their actions and rights for unions to access workplaces and ensure that workers are being paid correctly.

“We also need a simple, accessible process for workers to claim back wages that they have had stolen.

Calombaris, who founded Made Establishment, apologised to all former and current staff affected.

“We apologise to all our affected team members, past and present – as it is our people that make our restaurants great, and it is our priority to ensure all of our employees feel respected, rewarded and supported in their roles,” Calombaris said.

“We are committed to acting as a force for change in the industry and leading by example when it comes to building and promoting supportive, healthy and compliant hospitality workplaces.”

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Melbourne-based Made Establishment said it identified incorrect payments during a review in early 2017, following a change in ownership and management.

On Thursday it confirmed it had entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman after self-reporting the incorrect payments.

The company said the ombudsman confirmed its finding that employees were wrongly classified and underpaid due to incorrect processes and failures across its payroll and human resources systems.

The Made group chief executive, Leigh Small, said all current team members were now correctly classified and new procedures were in place.

“Since changing ownership, we have introduced a new CEO, a new people and culture director and new processes and procedures to ensure we’re not only complying with workplace relations laws but actively promoting a culture of employee wellbeing,” he said.

“All current Made team members have been correctly classified, and all entitlements verified as owing to current and past employees have been calculated and paid, with a handful of claims now being finalised.”