Case

Fair Work Ombudsman v Mai (2025) 

Viet Quoc Mai and his wife, Huong Le, owned and operated two Vietnamese eateries – a restaurant and a stall in a food court – in South Australia. The eateries employed at least 36 people, some under the Restaurant Industry Award and others under the Fast Food Industry Award. These employees were largely visa-holders, and English was not their first language.

Viet Quoc Mai paid a flat hourly rate, electronically, that he determined for each employee per fortnight. These rates were generally between $21.69 and $26.49, but sometimes as low as $16 or as high as $26.90. The payments were for an arbitrary number of hours that was also determined by Viet Quoc Mai. Huong Le then made cash payments at a flat hourly rate of $15 for the remaining hours worked by each employee.