‘Major fried chicken franchise hit with surprise FWO audits over reported underpayments’

SmartCompany, April 12, 2019

Fried chicken franchise Gami Chicken and Beer has been pinned by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) for a number of surprise audits, with the workplace watchdog’s investigators heading into 19 stores across the franchises’ Melbourne, Sydney and Perth locations yesterday.

The FWO says it had received a number of complaints from current and former employees about the business, claiming issues such as underpayments, not paying penalty rates, and failure to provide payslips.

The restaurant chain was founded in 2006 by four friends “sitting around with a beer in our hands”, with the goal of bringing the popular Korean fried chicken dishes to Australia. Co-founder Jun Lee told SmartCompany in November last year the company turned over nearly $25 million in the 2017 financial year, and also said the company’s franchisees are given significant support to help them get started.

However, fair work ombudsman Sandra Parker said the watchdog was dedicated to cracking down on any alleged non-compliance. READ MORE: https://www.smartcompany.com.au/industries/hospitality/gami-chicken-beer-fwo-audits/?utm_campaign=SC&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter