Fair Work inspectors target 80 businesses
Fair Work inspectors have swooped on more than 80 businesses in New South Wales after receiving complaints of rampant underpayment of young workers and in cases, even non-payment of university students by cafes, restaurants, retail and take-away food outlets.
The area targeted was Wollongong where concerns are being raised that young people are being exploited.
In a space of three days, Fair Work inspectors turned up unannounced at more than 80 businesses in the city's central business district.
Business operators were interviewed and records were checked to ensure workers were being paid minimum hourly pay rates, penalty rates, overtime and allowances. The inspectors also looked at their compliance with record-keeping and pay slip laws.
Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Michael Campbell said the audits were done after the authorities picked up intelligence and public concerns that young workers in Wollongong were being underpaid and treated unfairly. Some of the audits, he said, could lead to full blown investigations.
"Wollongong is a tertiary education hub with a high a number of young students who work in casual jobs and the reports of underpayments have been concerning," Mr Campbell told the Canberra Times.
"Young workers can be vulnerable if they are not fully aware of their rights or reluctant to complain, so it's important we are proactive about checking they're being paid correctly."
Underpayment is quite an issue in Wollongong as Wollongong University graduate Ashleigh Mounser found out when she took to Facebook and vented after she was offered as little as $10 per hour to work in a takeaway food shop in Wollongong last year.
Her posting attracted similar stories from 67 others, which in the end led to a Fairfax investigation.
Ms Mounser said she was happy about the raids but there needed to be tougher laws to stop this sort of exploitation.
"I'm glad that something is being done, but I would rather that it be prevented rather than punished," she told the Canberra Times.
"I think we still need to look at legislation in terms of preventing it because people are still coming to Wollongong and dealing with the same problem, even it it's from a different business."
by Leon Gettler, March 31st 2017
