Owners of a Berwick service station have been fined almost $100,000 for underpaying two Indian workers as little as $10 an hour. Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James found workers at the BP station on Clyde Rd were underpaid more than $111,800 between 2008 and 2012. They have since been back-paid. The Federal Circuit Court fined Liquid Fuel Pty Ltd $79,537 over the matter. Husband-and-wife managers Xin Zhang and Linda Qu were each fined $4504 and Ms Qu’s father Nian Li, the company director, was fined $3861. The court heard one of the workers was financially supporting his wife and daughter and said the low wages made it “very hard to survive”. He said there were times he had to borrow money to pay his rent. Ms James said the underpayments were “blatant exploitation” and described the overseas workers, who are now Australian citizens, as “vulnerable”.
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