A BELCONNEN sushi restaurant, Sushi Bay Belconnen, has been slapped with more than $124,000 worth of fines from the Fair Work Ombudsman after it exploited overseas workers in the ACT.

Sushi Bay Belconnen owner Rebecca Yi Jeong Shin, was fined $20,736 and her company Sushi Bay ACT Pty Ltd was penalised a further $103,680 by the Federal Circuit Court after Ms Shin admitted to underpaying employees $18,671 between November 2015 and March 2016.

Ms Shin underpaid 22 employees, amounts ranging from $103 to $1992, which have been repaid in full. Most of the underpaid employees were Korean nationals who were in Australia on working holiday and student visas. Four of the workers were aged between 17 and 19.

Ms Shin had previously been put on notice by the Fair Work Ombudsman about underpayments. In May 2015, she was formally cautioned that enforcement action could be taken against her for any future contraventions of workplace laws.

Sandra Parker of the Fair Work Ombudsman says Ms Shin’s conduct exploited vulnerable workers who were young and/or migrants.

Following the fines handed to Ms Shin by the Fair Work Ombudsmen, UnionsACT secretary Alex White says there is a wage-theft crisis in Canberra, where a growing number of adult employers decide to deliberately steal wages from vulnerable young people.

“It is even more disgraceful that we are seeing adult employers steal from young migrants aged under 18 who work for them,” Mr White says.

“Our research shows that cases of wage-theft continues to worsen.

“Clearly, most unscrupulous employers aren’t worried about the Fair Work Ombudsman. The dodgy employer in this case had been caught in 2015 and yet continued to steal wages from young workers and migrants for years afterwards.

“Dodgy employers are increasingly taking the calculated risk when it comes to wage-theft that they won’t be caught, or if they are, there will be few consequences.”