Massage parlour ‘threatened to kill families’ - news.com.au

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A Canberra massage parlour has been fined almost $1m for threatening to kill the families of Filipino workers who a judge found faced “systematic exploitation” under its employ.


The seven workers were awarded $1.166m in back-pay and compensation, plus interest, following a civil judgment in the Federal Court concerning proceedings brought by the Fair Work Omudsman.

This comes in addition to $966,890 in penalties.

Justice Anna Katzmann found that between June 2012 and February 2016 they had been underpaid a total of $971,092, and were discriminated against and coerced by Colin Kenneth Elvin, their employer and the director of Foot & Thai Massage in Canberra.

The staff at the centre of the claim were hired between 2012 and 2013 on sponsored work visas, and regularly required to work 9.45am to 10pm or 10.30pm six days per week.

All were underpaid more than $100,000 and six were regularly asked to pay back portions of wages to the parlour when it struggled.

Their movement was restricted as Mr Elvin and the workers’ former supervisor, Filipino man Jun Millard Puerto, would ferry them to and from the parlour in the back of a van, according to the Federal Court judgment.

The pair threatened to deport the staff if they mentioned their living conditions, and said he would have their families in the Philippines, who were financially dependent on them, killed.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said it was one of the most shocking cases brought before the authority.

“The deliberate and calculated exploitation of vulnerable migrant workers has absolutely no place in Australian society,” Ms Booth said.

“No visa holder worker should ever face employer threats to the safety of their family, or threats to be deported if they use their workplace rights to raise concerns about their employment.

“Visa holders in Australia have the same workplace rights as all other workers, and enforcing those rights remains an enduring priority for the Fair Work Ombudsman.”

The parlour shut in 2019 owing $1.2m to the Australian Taxation Office.

The court deemed that if the liquidation and Mr Elvin’s funds could not pay the remaining back-pay and compensation, the court penalties would be provided to the workers.

The six women and one man are on working visas and have been owed since 2016.

Among the penalties, $778,100 was placed on Foot & Thai Massage, $150,140 against Mr Elvin and $38,650 on Mr Millard Puerto.

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Mr Millard Puerto was found to be involved in a number of breaches, including threatening the staff.

His skilled worker visa was sponsored by Mr Elvin at the time.

The penalties are the third highest sum ever handed down by the Fair Work Ombudsman.

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