Written by Workforce editor David Marin-Guzman.

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Malaysian restaurant chain and so-called ‘Sydney institution’ Mamak is facing court action following claims it underpaid its foreign workers more than $87k, with its owners allegedly concealing the underpayments by providing false records to the workplace ombudsman.

The Fair Work Ombudsman’s action filed late last year comes as the restaurant’s owners have expanded their operation into Melbourne and recently opened up a sister-chain called Hawker.

Mamak located in Chinatown is often listed as one of Sydney’s “most affordable restaurants”, and attracts lines around the block for its “authentic” Malaysian street food.

The FWO statement of claim reveals that six Mamak casuals – most on student visas – were allegedly underpaid $87,349 between February 2012 and April 2015.

Staffers worked past midnight but were paid as little as $11 an hour without penalty rates or casual loading. One employee was allegedly underpaid $26,793 and another $21,538.

The FWO is also accusing the restaurant and its owner-operators of providing it with false records that made it appear that it had paid higher rates than was actually the case.

Although Mamak eventually reimbursed the workers following the FWO action, the ombudsman is seeking penalties from the restaurant and the owners – Joon Hoe Lee, Julian Lee and Alan Wing-Keung Au – for being “knowingly involved” in the underpayments.

They face maximum penalties of up to $10,200 per breach, and Mamak itself up for $51k per breach, plus penalties for allegedly creating or authorising the false pay records.

The FWO is also seeking an injunction restraining the owners – who have Mamak restaurants in Chatswood, Sydney, and the Melbourne CBD – from breaching workplace laws in the future.

The owners would have to undertake training in workplace relations law and commission an audit of their compliance.
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One of the underpaid Mamak workers, Vicky (not her real name), spoke to Workforce Daily on condition of anonymity.

Vicky was on a student visa while employed at Mamak and was paid $11 an hour, later upped to $13.50 an hour when she should have been paid more than $22 an hour. However, she said initially she did not know she was being underpaid.

It was only after speaking to fellow students at a conference hosted by the Council of International Students Australia (CISA) in July last year that Vicky became aware of what her rights were.

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Mamak avoided scrutiny through false records

Vicky says Mamak provided staff with payslips that would record what they were paid and their hours but without any company names or ABN.

Meanwhile, Mamak presented different pay records to the authorities when it was audited.

As part of the FWO’s national hospitality campaign in August 2013, Mamak provided the ombudsman with payroll advices and roster reports, including for one of the allegedly underpaid workers in the FWO’s current action.

Those pay records said the worker was paid an annual salary of $38,808, superannuation, a casual weekday hourly rate of $24.54 an hour along with PAYG income tax deductions.

The FWO now says in reality that worker was only paid a flat hourly rate of $14.14.

The agency claims Mamak knowingly provided it with false and misleading records.

Mamak did not return requests for comment before presstime.