Masterchef’s George Calombaris underpaid staff at his restaurants a whopping $2.6 million. 162 of the 430 current staff at his restaurants including The Press Club, Gazi and Hellenic Republic were affected.
The Fair Work Ombudsman alerted his company, MAdE Establishment, to payroll problems in 2015, but it was not fully investigated until Troy McDonagh was appointed new chief executive in October last year. MAdE called in KPMG to investigate.
Affected staff will be back-paid an average of just over $16,000 each, according to McDonagh. The recalculation went all the way back to 2011.
Celebrated chef Calombaris sent an impassioned apology to staff:
“You, our amazing team, are the key to our success. I am so sorry we have messed up and let you down on a fundamental issue,” he said.
He continued:
“I am devastated by what has happened and we have been working extremely hard to fix this. I want to be clear that getting it right means ensuring that every single one of our team members is paid what they are entitled to under the industry award, and that any outstanding money owed to staff is rectified as our highest priority.”
Those affected are being asked to email [email protected].
