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MasterChef winner Adam Liaw claims restauranteurs should face jail for wage theft

Jul 30, 2019

Former MasterChef winner Adam Liaw said jail time should be an option for restauranteurs who fail to pay their staff the right amounts. Source: Twitter/ ABC Q&A

Former MasterChef winner Adam Liaw has weighed in on the debate of underpayment in the hospitality industry, claiming jail time would be an acceptable form of punishment for restaurateurs who fail to pay their workers substantial amounts.

Appearing on ABC’s Q&A around a week after his former celebrity mentor George Calombaris was found to have underpaid staff a whopping $7.8 million, Liaw admitted more needs to be done to ensure workers are treated fairly.

While he didn’t mention the previous MasterChef judge specifically, the winner of MasterChef 2010, who claimed to be underpaid himself throughout his career, said time behind bars was essential for those who wrong those within the industry.

“The deterrents in terms of increasing penalties and putting people in prison for doing large scale systematic wage theft is certainly something that definitely should be on the table,” he explained on the Monday night’s program.

Should there be prison sentences for industrial scale underpayment of wages? #QandA pic.twitter.com/ysioSpdJsJ

— QandA (@QandA) July 29, 2019

Liaw added: “If the goal is truly to resolve systemic underpayment of staff in hospitality we need to look at other issues where we can help businesses to do this as well. The awards for hospitality are difficult, we could look at simplifying that, we can look at making that more accessible for people who don’t have large payroll facilities and large payroll operations.”

His comments come after Calombaris found himself in hot water for underpaying his staff at establishments including Hellenic Republic, The Press Club and Gazi, by more than $7 million.

The star – who was ordered to pay a fine of $200,000 for the underpayment of employees – sensationally quit MasterChef days after his wrongdoings were publicised with fellow judges Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan also following suit and stepping down from their positions on the hit show.

The three were said to have failed to reach a contractual decision after 11 seasons on the show with new judges set to replace the trio from next year onwards. It was initially rumoured former MasterChef contestant Poh Ling Yeow would take to the panel along with Maggie Beer and Curtis Stone.

However, Poh has since addressed the rumours, confirming in an interview with The Herald Sun that she has not been approached to appear on the show as a judge and is “traumatised” by her former mentors departure from MasterChef.

“I saw [my name] was out there and I was like, ‘wow I haven’t been told’,” she told the publication.

“It’s very flattering to be considered but I don’t like to count my chickens.”

The runner-up of MasterChef in 2009 said she has been upset since learning of Calombaris, Preston and Mehigan’s decision to leave the show and doesn’t know what to make of it.

“I’ve been pretty traumatised actually by the judges leaving,” she admitted to The Herald Sun. “MasterChef as we know it has changed without them at the helm.”