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FWO raids found almost 150 workers being underpaid by 24 cafes and restaurants across Launceston.
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Tassie food outlets forced to back pay workers $120,000
14 October 2022
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A blitz on Launceston’s food precincts by the Fair Work Ombudsman has uncovered two dozen businesses underpaying their staff to the tune of more than $120,000.
The FWO inspectors scrutinised 31 food businesses across nine suburbs throughout Launceston and found 24 had breached workplace laws.
Of those, 23 had underpaid their workers and seven had failed to meet pay slip and record-keeping requirements.
The most common breaches were failure to pay penalty rates by 19 businesses, underpayment of the minimum hourly pay rate by 18 businesses, and failure to pay correct leave allowances by seven businesses.
The total underpayment the FWO discovered was $121,574, of which it recovered $117,199 for 142 workers through issuing compliance notices to 22 of the businesses. Just over $4,000 of the monies owing had already been paid.
The FWO also issued seven infringement notices for payslip and record-keeping breaches resulting in $9,988 fines, and said matters concerning two of the companies were still ongoing.
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The largest recovery from a single business was $39,432 for 26 employees who had been underpaid their minimum wages as well as overtime, weekend, and public holiday penalties.
The FWO said it selected the businesses for surprise inspections based on their risk of breaching workplace laws, their history of non-compliance and anonymous tip-offs.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said the inspections were the next step in a national program that has been targeting food precincts across the country and had recovered more than $2 million for employees.
“Uncovering high levels of non-compliance in Launceston’s fast food, restaurant and cafe sector, as the FWO has nationwide, is disappointing,” said Ms Parker. “Employers can’t pick and choose which wage laws they follow and those doing the wrong things are being found out.”
The Launceston raids come after the FWO made surprise inspections on 48 food outlets in Darwin last month, revealing 479 staff had been underpaid by a combined $400,000.
“The Fair Work Ombudsman will continue to prioritise improving compliance in this sector and protecting the rights of vulnerable workers, including visa holders and the young,” said Ms Parker.
“Workers with concerns about their pay or entitlement should come forward for help.”
The FWO also warned the non-compliant businesses that any future breaches could lead to higher-level enforcement action being taken.
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