Workers' rights advocates are calling for George Calombaris to be sacked from MasterChef after a four-year investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman found he underpaid $7.83 million in wages.
It has sparked fresh calls for tougher penalties and the criminalisation of wage theft to deter rogue operators from exploiting their workers.
"George and [his company] Made Establishment have reached an agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman in relation to this matter," a network spokesperson said. "George has the support of Network 10. We will not be making any further comment."The Ombudsman's investigation uncovered a raft of breaches by Made Establishment, including a failure to pay minimum award rates, penalty rates, casual loadings, overtime rates, split-shift allowances and annual leave loadings.
"Clearly the current regulatory system is not working. We are paying a huge price for policies and laws that have de-unionised the labour market. The Victorian government promised before last year's state election to introduce legislation criminalising wage theft, a move a researcher at Melbourne University said could be open to constitutional challenges because of inconsistency with federal laws, including the Fair Work Act.
"The new laws will be drafted carefully to address any potential constitutional inconsistency issues."
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