Adriano Zumbo the cake wizard, has been caught underpaying more than 200 staff across his Melbourne and Sydney stores.  The drama was aired on channel Nine’s ACA after staff went public with the payroll issues.  The former and current employees told the ACA they were provided with fake superannuation numbers, were not paid the correct rates and were not paid overtime.

Much like George Columbaris, Adriano Zumbo blamed payroll.  Zumbo advised a new payroll system had been implemented in January of this year.  He stated numerous discrepancies in the calculation, approval and payment were identified to a small number of staff.  Apparently only 10 staff have been affected.

Adriano Zumbo has assured the public he is dealing with the issue and all staff affected will be paid the monies owed to them this week and the payroll system is now being audited.  Zumbo claims that the employees did not raise the issue with himself or HR prior to going to ACA.  This contradicts one employees claims that they emailed continuously and were told it would be paid each time and never was.

ACA claims the complaint regarding the Zumbo allegations has been made to Fair Work Australia.

This trend seems to be appearing more and more in hospitality.  I can’t help but question how genuine are these underpayments?  They possibly may be genuine or is the celebrity chef’s greed stepping out of the kitchen and into their back pocket?

The FWO this week launched surprise visits to 80 venues in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley as part of a compliance blitz.  I believe this will only be the beginning of the crackdown.

If you would like to know more about the tougher penalties being introduced for employers underpaying employees, please have a read the attached blog written by resident HR Guru Jessy Warn https://hrgurus.com.au/new-legislation-increases-penalties-for-employers-underpaying-workers

HR Gurus can help get you ready for tighter and tougher compliance legislation.  Contact HR Gurus on 1300 959 560 and one of highly qualified HR professionals will be able assist.