Fair Work fines restaurant owner $800k for 'disgraceful' breaches

The Federal Court found Mr Viet Quoc Mai, operator of ‘Mr Viet’ restaurants in Rundle Mall and Adelaide Chinatown, underpaid 36 mostly Vietnamese international students by a total of $407,546 between 2018 and 2021. The court also penalised Mr Mai $265,000 and his wife and manager, Ms Huong Le, $130,000 for their roles in the wage theft and other serious breaches.

The affected workers, many under 25 and some as young as 18, were engaged in casual front- and back-of-house roles and paid as little as $15 per hour, well below the legal minimum. Individual underpayments ranged from $75 to over $58,000.

In a particularly egregious finding, the court heard Mr Mai used a “strike board system” to punish staff for minor errors. After six strikes, employees were forced to buy food or drinks — including bubble tea — for Mr Mai, Ms Le, and other team members. One employee was even told to transfer more than $50 to Ms Le’s personal bank account for these purchases.

Justice Stephen McDonald labelled the conduct “calculated and dishonest”, highlighting a shocking incident where Mr Mai pretended to repay a $10,000 underpayment, only to instruct the worker to withdraw and return the money immediately.

Other serious breaches included:

• Providing false or misleading records to Fair Work inspectors
• Unpaid overtime, weekend, and public holiday rates
• No compensation for missed meal breaks
• Illegal deductions from wages for mistakes such as mistakes when charging customers or leaving fridges open

The court deemed several of Mr Mai’s actions “serious contraventions” under laws designed to protect vulnerable workers, attracting higher penalties due to their deliberate and repeated nature.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the case was a stark reminder to the hospitality industry: “If you exploit your workers, you will be found out. These penalties show that Australia will not tolerate this kind of behaviour, especially when it targets young, migrant workers.”

She warned other restaurant operators that faking compliance or misleading regulators could lead to even harsher penalties: “Trying to trick inspectors by faking repayments or coercing workers into silence only deepens the consequences.”

This case was part of a wider compliance crackdown on Adelaide’s hospitality sector in 2021, which recovered unpaid wages for over 300 workers. Since 2017, the FWO has brought 146 legal cases involving visa holder workers, resulting in nearly $23 million in penalties.

Know your responsibilities

Restaurant owners and managers are reminded that staff entitlements under awards like the Restaurant Industry Award and the Fast Food Industry Award are non-negotiable. These include proper hourly rates, penalty loadings, overtime, break entitlements, and precise record-keeping and payslip obligations. For free and confidential advice, visit www.fairwork.gov.au or call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94. Help is available in multiple languages.