An Australian accounting and financial services company and its owner have been ordered to pay a combined $177,000 in penalties after a migrant worker was subjected to an unlawful cashback arrangement that effectively left her without wages.

The Federal Circuit and Family Court imposed a $148,000 penalty on Innovative Associates Pty Ltd and a further $29,000 penalty on its sole director and owner, Dila Ram Kharel.

The case involved a Nepalese national who worked part-time as an assistant accountant between July 2019 and December 2020 while holding a temporary graduate visa.

According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, the company initially failed to pay the worker for around 10 weeks. It then required her to transfer money into bank accounts controlled by Kharel. The funds were subsequently transferred back to the company, which used them to pay her wages as well as tax and superannuation obligations.

Between October 2019 and December 2020, the worker transferred $32,907 into those accounts, while $27,873.50 was returned to her as wages.

Overall, the company underpaid the worker $40,164.49, including unpaid wages and other workplace entitlements. The full amount has since been repaid.

The company also breached record-keeping and payslip requirements, with the Fair Work Ombudsman finding that inspectors were knowingly provided with false or misleading payslips.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth described the conduct as a serious form of worker exploitation, stressing that employees, including visa holders, are entitled to receive and keep their lawful minimum entitlements regardless of their immigration status.

The court found the breaches were deliberate and said significant penalties were necessary both to hold the parties accountable and to deter other employers from engaging in similar conduct.

The Fair Work Ombudsman says protecting vulnerable workers, including migrant and visa-holder employees, remains a key enforcement priority.