Perth cafe chain owner hit with penalties

The operator of a Perth restaurant chain has been fined nearly $40,000 for underpaying the foreign workers she employed.

The operator and franchise owner of several well-known Han's Cafe restaurants, Tram Hoang Han, and several companies she was a sole director of have been fined a total of $37,500 in the Federal Court of Australia.

Ms Han had shown a flagrant disregard for her obligations to comply with minimum award pay rates, said the Fair Work Ombudsman, which brought the case against her.

She was found to have underpaid 100 employees across four restaurants by at least $30,440.06,

The ombudsman alleged that the underpayments would have been considerably greater but that could not be proved because of the "woefully inadequately records" Ms Han kept.

There were no records kept in terms of hours worked, leave, overtime, penalty rates or loading.

As well as being fined, the companies Ms Han is director of have been ordered to complete Fair Work Australia training about hiring employees and to provide all of its employees with Fair Work Australia information about their entitlements.

The money was back paid to the workers, who included international students, 417 working holiday visa holders and 457 skilled worker visa holders.