Court batters chip shop

A FERNTREE Gully fish and chip shop has been fined $17,000 for underpaying two teenage employees.
A 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old girl each were paid just $5 an hour for their work at Mountain Gate Shopping Centre’s Sharx.
They should have received $9.52 an hour plus penalty rates.
Sharx was found guilty of five breaches of the Fast Food Retail Victoria Common Rule Declaration 2005 and the Australian Fair Pay and Classification Standard in the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court last month.
Magistrate Kate Hawkins fined the company for failing to pay minimum rates, minimum hours, Saturday loading, Sunday loading, and loading for hours worked after 6pm.
Owner Con Papageorgiou has also been ordered to pay the pair almost $1500 in back pay. The charges followed a federal Workplace Ombudsman investigation.
Workplace Ombudsman executive director Michael Campbell said Magistrate Hawkins had expressed concern about the exploitative and opportunistic nature of the underpayments.
“She commented that junior employees lacking experience and knowledge about their entitlements were vulnerable and the penalty reflected the need for deterrence to prevent the hospitality industry exploiting young workers seeking their first jobs,” Mr Campbell said.
Mr Papageorgiou was unavailable for comment.