<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>More than $5 million in fines have been dished out after a NSW children's clothing store was found to have exploited "vulnerable" migrant workers by underpaying wages and denying them super.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Blue Sky Kids Land was found to have underpaid four Chinese migrant workers by $131,920 in total.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The underpayments ranged between $14,744 to $45,140 in individual wages.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/nsw-missing-paddleboarder-jervis-bay-vincentia/0fd5f5d4-48a6-496e-bac2-0df56d75fcbd"><strong><span>Search for paddleboards missing in 'choppy' water near NSW tourist spot</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The four women, who spoke very little English, had been underpaid the minimum wage, casual loading, and penalty rates between October 2015 and June 2018.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They also did not receive super payments over the same period.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Two of the workers were underpaid their overtime rates, while another was not paid out the annual leave they were owed when their employment ended.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/blue-sky-kids-land-kids-5-million-fines/061b1517-8974-47bf-84e4-a73347a67a0c" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These substantial penalties highlight that exploiting vulnerable migrant workers is particularly reprehensible conduct that will not be tolerated in Australia," Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We treat cases involving underpayments and use of false or misleading records impacting migrant workers particularly seriously, because we are conscious that they can be vulnerable due to factors such as a lack of awareness of their entitlements or a reluctance to complain."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of the women told the court that she and her husband had struggled to pay their mortgage and chose to defer starting a family as they couldn't afford to on the illegally low pay she was receiving.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The company had stores in NSW and Canberra.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/rail-union-offers-to-call-off-christmas-new-year-strikes/7c6b717d-94d7-4e7e-be01-16bd62578f47"><strong><span>Union says NYE fireworks threat 'outrageous' scare tactic</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Fair Work also said Gu had obstructed their investigation and had ordered a Canberra store be closed so the inspectors could not conduct a site visit.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Justice Anna Katzmann found that all the breaches committed by the pair were deliberate and serious.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What is more, the contraventions occurred in circumstances in which the respondents either knew or were wilfully blind to their legal obligations," Katzmann said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She also said that evidence suggests there are several other companies run by the pair, who have also been the subject of underpayment complaints.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This evidence suggests that, even while this proceeding was on-foot, Mr Gu and Fei Yang were continuing to underpay staff," Katzmann said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The company was fined $4,299,000 while director Guo Dong Gu was hit with a $760,000 penalty.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Another company director Fei Rong Yang was issued with a $43,000 penalty.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A further $44,100 fine was issued against a former company operated by Gu and Yang called Q Fay Trading Pty Ltd, which imported clothing to Blue Sky Kids Land.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The same company had previously been issued a notice to correct non-compliance in 2006, Fairwork said.</span></div></div>