Staff at well-known Melbourne music venues The Tote and Bar Open are still waiting to receive their full superannuation entitlement a year on from a meeting in which owners admitted they had not been paying superannuation for almost two years.
It is the second time Seventh Tipple, the company behind The Tote, has failed to pay the superannuation guarantee to employees since they took over the venue in 2010.
Former Tote bartender Annie Stephenson went to withdraw her superannuation after she lost all her work in March 2020 due to the pandemic, only to find none had been paid for the year she had worked at The Tote.
"Our super, that was the safety net that we had during the pandemic," she said.
"I didn't have any savings. Losing my job and not being on JobKeeper was the last straw and I just had a bit of a breakdown."
After 10 years working various casual jobs in hospitality, Ms Stephenson said she had not been paid all of her super and had less than $2,000 in her account.
"I don't understand how they managed to get away with it," she said.
Payslips seen by the ABC suggest she should have been paid $1,600 from The Tote alone.
"People working in hospitality are just some of the most vulnerable people."
Workers told paying super 'not front of mind'
Workers discovered the widespread underpayment when an employee from Bar Open checked their super account and found, despite contributions appearing on their payslips, no money had been deposited.
Several employees from both The Tote and Bar Open confronted co-owners Jon Perring and Sam Crupi about the unpaid super in a video meeting last August.
They were told paying superannuation had "not been in the forefront" of the owners' minds and implied the venues could be shut if staff demanded the speedy payment of their entitlements.
'Every effort' being made to backpay staff
When contacted by the ABC, Mr Perring and Mr Crupi admitted they were "carrying a number of [managed] liabilities, including a period of overdue super payments".
"Like many businesses right now, the business is under extreme financial pressure due to the challenges posed by the pandemic, and they are struggling to hold on," they said in a statement.
The business self-reported the underpayment to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) before the Superannuation Guarantee amnesty closed on September 7, 2020.
They now have a payment plan with the ATO and said repayments were up to date and super was being paid to current staff.
Mr Perring and Mr Crupi said the problem with overdue superannuation payments was temporary and the companies' plans to correct the situation were derailed by the pandemic.
"No one has pocketed anyone's super to enrich themselves here. It's a situation where properly accounted super payment drifted out of terms," they said.
When asked if some staff were still waiting on superannuation payments from the venues, Mr Perring and Mr Crupi said they did not know.
An ATO spokesperson said they could not comment on the affairs of any individual or entity due to confidentiality obligations.
Not first time super unpaid
Kerry Levier worked for Mr Perring and Mr Crupi 10 years ago, managing the venue Yah Yah's.
When one of her staff asked why they had not been paid super, Ms Levier checked her own account and found her full superannuation entitlement hadn't been paid for the three years she worked there.
She confronted the owners and said she was asked to "stay quiet" for a year, implying that, if staff reported them to the ATO, the venues would have to close.
In 2013, Ms Levier spoke to a lawyer, who sent Mr Perring, Mr Crupi, and the third owner Andy Portokallis — who is now deceased — an email asking them to "discuss a way of making good your superannuation obligations".
In a reply-all email Mr Portokallis wrote "K*nts! Was a matter of time guess!"
"I would say yes we are prepared to make good, and have been working on it, but will only make arrangements with each individual we will not be bullied by a lawyer!" the email continued.
The owners said the 2013 underpayment was also reported to the ATO and all staff were eventually back-paid, with interest. Ms Levier received around $13,000.
"As to Andy's infamous invective-laden accidental reply-all email vent, he apologised publicly to both the staff and to his fellow directors — us," Mr Perring and Mr Crupi said.
Ms Levier was "furious" the venue owners had fallen behind on super payments again, just a few years after her "stressful" ordeal.
Richard Stanley has been involved with The Tote since the early 2000s and started working as venue booker in 2013.
He has received some super payments from Seventh Tipple in the past few months, but has since left the music industry.
Now he is calling for businesses to treat all hospitality workers and artists fairly.
