Wealthy businessman and his wife accused of paying a Filipino nanny $2.33 an hour and forcing her to work 106 hours a week – with just two days off a year
- A Sydney businessman and his wife are accused of underpaying a Filipino nanny
- She was allegedly paid $2.33 an hour and forced to work up to 106 hours a week
- She was given two days off during her employment from May 2016 to May 2017
- Her job involved looking after two children, cooking, cleaning and gardening
A businessman and his wife are accused of paying a nanny $2.33 an hour and forcing her to work up to 106 hours a week with just two days off in a year.
Sydney businessman Kit Antony (Tony) Lam and his wife Ming Wei (Tiffanie) Tong employed Filipino nanny Joan Doren Calderon Romero at their Pitt Street apartment from May 2016 to May 2017 to look after their two children.
She was responsible for school runs, cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and gardening.
Ms Romero was expected to work from 6am to 11pm on weekdays and 7am to 11am on weekends, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Sydney businessman Tony Lam and his wife Tiffanie Tong are accused of paying Filipino nanny Joan Doren Calderon Romero $2.33 an hour and forcing her to work 106 hours a week with just two days off in a year
The Fair Work Ombudsman alleged Ms Romero was underpaid by $155,178, in breach of Australia’s workplace laws.
Mr Lam recruited the nanny from the Philippines and paid $12,574 her for 12 months of work.
Ms Romero was given two days off, one in October and another in September, during her employment with the Lam family.
‘We allege the worker in this case was vulnerable to exploitation given she was new to Australia, resided with Mr Lam and his family, and did not know what her workplace rights were,’ Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said.
‘The scale of the alleged underpayments and the unreasonable work hours are concerning,’ Ms Parker said.
Ms Romero was responsible for looking after two children, school runs, cooking, cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and gardening at the family’s Pitt Street apartment
The FWO alleges the employee was entitled to at least between $17.29 and $18.91 per hour, and up to $37.82 for overtime hours, under the Miscellaneous Award.
The Federal court will hear the matter next on October 29.
The Lam family couldn’t be reached for a comment.