This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A Tasmanian hotel owner who deliberately underpaid and discriminated against a Malaysian couple based on their race has been fined more than $200,000 in a landmark ruling.

Kien Hoong Loh and his wife, Kah Yoon Low, were underpaid more than $28,000 while working at the Scamander Beach resort hotel on the state’s east coast until 2014.

In an Australian first, Judge Barbara Baker ruled then-owner Chang Yen Chang made a deliberate decision to treat the pair differently to Australian staff.

“Mr Chang was well aware of his obligations to pay them their entitlements under the relevant awards,” she said in her federal circuit court ruling. “They were taken advantage of, coming from Malaysia and being of Chinese descent.

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“[Mr Chang] decided to recruit employees from Malaysia, in part because he knew a Malaysian would accept working six days a week.

“He knew that it was usual in Malaysia to work six or seven days.”

Loh, head chef at the restaurant from 2010 to 2014 while working on a 457 visa, was underpaid more than $20,000.

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He worked between 33 and 57 hours a week, often opening the restaurant for lunch and finishing after it closed for dinner. He was underpaid for public holiday, overtime and evening work.

Low, who worked up to 51 hours a week as a kitchen hand for about five months, was paid roughly half of what she was entitled to. She quit after finding the workload too much, she told the court.

Chang was fined $35,099 and his company Yenida Pty Ltd was penalised $176,005.

“This is the first time the Fair Work ombudsman has taken legal action against an employer for racially discriminating against employees,” Fair Work ombudsman Natalie James said. “All workers in Australia are entitled to our minimum wages, irrespective of their background, language skills or visa status.”