George Calombaris has opened up about the backlash he received when he was found to be underpaying his staff, in a new podcast.
The former MasterChef judge joined established podcaster and businessman Mark Bouris on his Podcast Straight Talk & The Mentor and revealed exactly what happened when it was discovered that hundreds of employees were underpaid.
“We all love a success story, but what we value even more is a comeback story,” Mark wrote on Instagram to promote his episode with George. “George Calombaris has made his mistakes but he is not hiding from them.”
What does George Calombaris talk about on the podcast?
The main topic discussed is the underpayment scandal that took place in George’s Melbourne restaurants.
“We did a full audit and at the time we found we overpaid workforce, we underpaid 49% we went to fair work,” George explains in the episode. “This is what happened, we’re fixing it, we just wanna be open and honest with you.”
“That was the perfect opportunity for certain organisations to use me as a pin-up boy and it was the most f**king horrible time of my life,” he said.
George opened up on how the scandal affected his family, and said that they suffered as a result.
“My wife getting absolutely hounded at the supermarket. My poor niece and nephews at school getting teased,” he said.
“I just worked out that nothing else mattered but my family, and focus on them. and I just went back to what I know, which is cooking,” he added.
What actually happened when George Calombaris underpaid his staff
In 2019, George’s hospitality group was ordered by the Fair Work Ombudsman to pay back workers $7.8 million in underpaid wages. He also received a $200,000 fine.
The matter was presented to the court in 2017 and George claimed the discrepancies were the result of human error. They were first brought to light in 2015 when the company went through a $20 million business expansion.
Listen to the podcast:
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