One said he had to borrow a mattress from friends because he could not afford to buy any furniture. He forced the workers to withdraw cash from an ATM and repay him large amounts of their wages. He threatened to withdraw his support for their visas if they refused. When one of the Indian employees complained, Ghazale threatened to "contact immigration" if the employee refused to hand over the cash. The employee gave evidence that Ghazale told him: "If anything happens to my business, I will kill you. If you complain to anyone, I will kill you and cancel your visa". The employee was allegedly required to repay Ghazale $450 to $940 per week - a total of $11,050 over several months.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James. Credit:Penny Stephens The second Indian employee repaid $10,680 through weekly cash payments of $360 to $2000 per week. When the employee complained he could no longer afford to pay money back, Ghazale allegedly shouted at him and demanded he repay $500 each week if he wanted to get his visa. The employee gave evidence that Ghazale allegedly dragged him by the collar and attempted to punch him. This was reported to Albury police. After the incident, the cook continued working at the cafe and providing cash to Ghazale.

(Ghazale) exploited his position of power to extract significant sums from each of the employees, and in effect, pay them wages as low as $6 an hour. Judge Tom Altobelli The Fair Work Ombudsman said the cashback scheme and underpayment of minimum entitlements resulted in the two employees being underpaid $32,063 and $28,858. Three Australian employees were also underpaid minimum wages and entitlements. A waitress was underpaid $11,273, a cook $8946 and an apprentice cook $6766. The Indian employees said the underpayments left them struggling to meet basic expenses, including groceries.

One said he had to borrow a mattress from friends because he could not afford to buy any furniture. He could not even afford to buy clothes or go out and lost a lot of weight from stress. The Court heard Ghazale and his company breached workplace laws by knowingly providing false time-and-wages records to Fair Work inspectors and failing to issue pay slips. The Court found Ghazale, who operated the cafe until 2014, was involved in multiple breaches of workplace laws including coercion, adverse action, underpayment of minimum lawful entitlements and providing false records. Ghazale had promised the two Indian workers annual salaries in excess of $50,000 for a 38-hour week, but they were paid flat rates of $1000 and $830 for working 60 hours per week, including nights and weekends. This was less than the minimum wage and penalty rates they were entitled to under Australia's Restaurant Industry Award 2010. The two Indian and three Australian workers were underpaid a total of $87,909.

'Grossly exploitative' In addition to the penalties, the Federal Circuit Court has ordered Ghazale and his company to back-pay the five workers in full. Judge Tom Altobelli said the treatment of the Indian employees was "grossly exploitative" and "particularly saddening". "(Ghazale) exploited his position of power to extract significant sums from each of the employees, and in effect, pay them wages as low as $6 an hour. It is also highly aggravating that (Ghazale) used violence, and threats of violence, to obtain the repayments," he said. "The disparity between the promised annual salary and the amounts in fact paid demonstrates the particular cruelty of the minimal payments."

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said the $532,910 in penalties is the largest it has achieved through legal action. The previous record of $408,348 was secured against a Brisbane 7-Eleven store involving the exploitation of overseas workers. Ms James said the penalties were a big blow in the fight to stamp out deliberate exploitation of overseas workers in Australia. "Any employer who tells an employee that they have to pay part of their wages back, or spend their wages in particular ways, is breaching work laws," Ms James said. "I am concerned that cashback schemes are being utilised by unscrupulous operators in an attempt to get around record keeping laws and disguise serious underpayment of wages.

Loading "We welcome the government's commitment to strengthen the laws prohibiting 'cash-back' arrangements." Ms James says workers who find themselves in this situation should make their own records and contact the Fair Work Ombudsman for free advice.