More than $400,000 in underpaid Brisbane restaurant wages recovered

Brisbane’s fast-food restaurants and cafes have been found guilty of underpaying staff, with the Fair Work Ombudsman recovering more than $400,000 in wages. 

One business was found to have underpaid its staff by $80,258, relating to 68 full and part-time employees.

The Ombudsman carried out surprise inspections across Brisbane's food precincts, uncovering ‘systemic’ problems in hospitality.

77 businesses were inspected across South Brisbane, Fortitude Valley, Sunnybank, and the CBD, with 75 per cent found to have breached workplace laws. 

"It's disappointing," Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said.

"We target businesses we are pretty confident will be non-compliant through anonymous reports from workers and from our own intelligence."

The crackdown is happening nationally and has so far recovered $2 million.

Failure to pay penalty rates or casual loading and underpaying the minimum hourly rate were the most common failures.

"If the employer admits it was a mistake and pays the money back there is no issue — we just check it has been paid," Parker said.

Deliberate breaches are another matter and there are tell-tale signs.

"The employer might not give out payslips, they have two sets of books, or they tell a worker to keep their pay a secret," she said.

"Employers can't pick and choose the laws they follow," Parker said.

"There is no excuse for breaches of the law where employees become the victim."

In a survey conducted by Associate Professor Richard Robinson from the University of Queensland Business School of almost 400 hospitality workers earlier this year, data showed pervasive issues.

"The results exposed deep cultural issues in the hospitality industry, with poor behaviours and practices that have become normalised and systemic," Dr Robinson said.

He told the ABC, "One apprentice we spoke to told us he had not been paid for six weeks.

"When he confronted his employer, they told him he had not been paid because they hadn't made enough money."

Dr Robinson highlighted structural issues that need to be addressed.

"There are low entry barriers into the hospitality industry and, with no strict accreditation standards, many businesses are perpetually operating in the red," he said.

"Some operators are not able to offer secure and decent work and they cut corners to try to get ahead."

Employees are urged to check the Fair Work entitlements.

"We have tools where you can work out what award you should be on and what you should be getting paid,” Parker said.

"If something doesn't look right, you can phone us or contact via the website."

Businesses in the ABC report have paid their workers since the breaches were found.

Jonathan Jackson - 02-11-22