Car service company Ultra Tune is facing court action for allegedly underpaying a Perth employee more than $20,000 and failing to keep legal employment records for international workers.
Documents lodged by the Fair Work Ombudsman in the Federal Magistrates Court in Perth detail claims that a Filipino man was underpaid a total of $21,700 between February, 2006 and January, 2008.
Ultra Tune recruited the employee, a mechanic in his 40s, from the Philippines and sponsored him on a 457 visa to work at Warwick.
But the company allegedly paid the worker only a flat hourly rate of $15.34, rather than the minimum hourly rate, and did not pay overtime.
The Filipino's employment was immediately terminated when the Warwick outlet closed, and the Ombudsman claims Ultra Tune failed to pay wages in lieu of notice, redundancy and accrued annual leave entitlements.
Fair Work inspectors became aware of the alleged underpayments last year after a complaint from the man.
Ultra Tune has since paid him about $11,000 of the alleged underpayment.
It is alleged Ultra Tune further breached workplace laws by failing to keep proper employment records for 10 Filipino workers it recruited on 457 visas to work in Victoria, WA and Queensland.
It is alleged the lack of employment records hampered Fair Work inspectors' attempts to investigate whether the nine other workers had been paid correctly.
Fair Work Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson said the company would be prosecuted because the worker had been vulnerable, the underpaid value was "significant" and the employer had failed to fully rectify the matter.
The company faces several charges, with maximum penalties of up to $33,000 per breach. The case is listed for a directions hearing on November 4.