It is the 10th investigation into the operations of a 7-Eleven Store and the sixth Brisbane store investigated since the underpayment of wages at the chain was raised in 2014.

Avinash Pratap Singh, the manager and part-owner of the 7-Eleven fuel outlet at 508 Vulture Street, East Brisbane, was fined $32,130 for underpaying two workers from India in 2014.

In October 2014, a "stressed" Mr Singh was fined $250 by Brisbane's Magistrates Court for throwing a metal chair at an employee when he complained of feeling sick.

This week, his company, S & A Enterprises (QLD) Pty Ltd, was also fined $160,650 by the Federal Court.

The company also tried to cover up its underpayment, the investigation revealed.

The Fair Work Ombudsman investigation followed media coverage of underpaid workers at 7-Eleven stores in 2015.

Mr Singh's two employees were international students in their mid-20s when they were employed by the 7-Eleven store in 2014.

They were paid a flat wage of $14.14 an hour, meaning they were not paid the minimum hourly rate, not paid overtime rates, casual loadings, or penalty rates for weekend work or public holidays.

Inspectors found the two students were underpaid a total of $5593.

One employee was underpaid $4439 over five months, while the second was underpaid $1154 over seven weeks.

The wages have since been repaid to the students.

Federal Court Judge Salvatore Vasta said underpaying the international students gave the operators of the 7-Eleven franchise outlet “a leg-up against legitimate businesses that they do not deserve”.

“Not only is it a blight upon the system for workers to be exploited in this way, it also enables a business such as that of the respondents to unfairly profit,” Judge Vasta said.

The investigation revealed Singh and S & A Enterprises made false entries into 7-Eleven's head office payroll system.

Both Mr Singh and S & A Enterprises Pty Ltd provided false time-and-wage records to the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Judge Vasta described the action as an appalling breach of the standards required to run a company in Australia.

“[They] created records that appeared to show that the employees were paid at the rates of pay prescribed by the modern award, including penalty rates and overtime rates of pay, which actually bore no relation to their hours of work or actual hourly rates,” he said.

“But not only did that mean that there were false records that were kept, it meant that when the Fair Work Ombudsman wanted those records, they were given false records, which ... has meant that the investigation was a lot more arduous and tedious than it should have been,” Judge Vasta said.

The investigators ultimately had to use cash register “sign in and sign out” records to show when the two employees actually worked, Judge Vasta said.

He ordered they pay $2747 for the Fair Work Ombudsman’s legal costs.

Recent fines against 7-Eleven stores in Brisbane

April 2018: Two Brisbane CBD 7-Eleven Stores were fined $192,961 after short-changing 21 workers more than $31,000.

July 2017: The former operator of a West End 7-Eleven store was fined $168,000 for underpaying staff and concealing the payments.

June 2016:  A Brisbane 7-Eleven operator is fined $408,000 – Australia’s biggest fine of its kind – for underpaying 12 staff.

August 2015: The former operator of the 7-Eleven store in Upper Edward Street was fined after underpaying an international student from Nepal more than $21,000 and refusing to co-operate with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

7-Eleven’s management in late 2016 began an agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman after the string of convictions.

Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said fines had increased for companies exploiting workers.

“7-Eleven has learnt the hard way what happens when you neglect workplace compliance in your network or supply chain,” Ms James said.

Fines of up to $630,000 for a company and $126,000 for an individual now apply to employers and companies who exploit workers.