A franchisee operating a Brisbane-based Nando’s restaurant has been caught out underpaying a Korean national on a working holiday visa and witholding initial wages as a bond.

An investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman found that the franchise had withheld the first two weeks’ wages in a bid to ensure the employee remained in the job for at least three months.

Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Michael Campbell said “Deducting money from employee wages as a punishment, or as some sort of performance management tool, is completely unlawful.”

The restaurant also fell foul of employment law by shortchanging the 25 year old Korean when he worked at the Kelvin Grove outlet, paying him as little as $12 an hour instead of a minimum of $20.94 – depending on shifts – under the Restaurant Industry Award.  

The franchisee has agreed to back-pay the former employee the $5573 owed from January to May 2014.

Franchisee UB Partners Pty Ltd, and the company’s sole director, Ujjwal Singh, have signed an Enforceable Undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman. Singh also operates the Newstead Nando’s restaurant under a second company, UBS Pty Ltd.

The Enforceable Undertaking requires him and his companies to undertake training and commit to future compliance with federal workplace laws.

“We use Enforceable Undertakings where we have formed a view that a breach of the law has occurred, but where the employer has acknowledged this and accepted responsibility and agreed to co-operate and fix the problem,” Campbell said.

• In March a hairdressing franchisee was fined $24,000 for contravening employment law.