By CLAIRE KNOX
The Fair Work Ombudsman has fined the operator of a Footscray Indian restaurant $72,000 for underpaying a cook from India by more than $24,000.
Taj Palace Tandoori Indian Restaurant Pty Ltd, which has a restaurant of the same name on Nicholson Street, was fined $60,000, while restaurant manager and part-owner Nathi Singh Rawat, of Sydenham, was fined $12,000.
The restaurant sponsored the cook, a man in his 30s, on a 457 work visa. He was paid a flat rate of $752 a week, often working 60-70 hours. The restaurant failed to keep proper employment records and issue pay slips, and it underpaid the cook his minimum hourly rate, in shift allowances, annual leave entitlements and penalty rates.
