MasterChef Australia judge George Calombaris has apologised to staff of his Melbourne restaurants after they were underpaid almost $2.6 million.
In a statement issued Monday, MAdE Establishment, the company founded by the high-profile chef, conceded that 162 of its 430 staff had been underpaid an average of $16,000 each.
The business has since acted to pay the $2.6 million owed to affected staff.
The bungle, which stretched back to 2011, also saw nearly half of the employees overpaid their base salary.
![](https://cdn.mamamia.com.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/04071234/georgecalombaris_GettyImages-464563489-1-600x315.jpg)
Calombaris said he has been left "devastated" by the error.
Top Comments
They've had TWO YEARS to rectify this!
2.6 million is a lot! What a jerk.