Brisbane 7-Eleven operators to face court

7-ElevenTwo 7-Eleven stores in Brisbane’s CBD have been accused of collectively shortchanging their employees more than $31,000.

The 21 employees, including a number of international students, were allegedly paid flat rates as low as $17.74 an hour.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched legal action against the operators of the stores, the latest of six 7-Eleven operators to face Court since 2009.

Facing court is Jason Yuan, who operates stores in Brisbane’s CBD and two companies he part-owns, Vipper and Viplus.

The ombudsman alleges 21 employees across the two stores were underpaid a total of $31,507 between September, 2013 and September, 2014 with individual employees allegedly owed amounts from $98 to $5080.

The two stores were among those targeted by the ombudsman for surprise night-time visits as part of a tri-State operation in September, 2014.

Yuan faces maximum penalties of up to $10,200 per breach. Vipper and Viplus each face penalties of up to $51,000 per contravention.

Ombudsman, Natalie James, says 7-Eleven is the subject of a national inquiry by Fair Work into allegations of systemic underpayments and false record-keeping practices.

James says a final report is expected in the first quarter of this year.

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