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FWO finds 58 Brisbane outlets in breach of workplace laws during the latest raids in its national crackdown.
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Brisbane food shops forced to back pay workers over $400k
03 November 2022
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The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has made surprise raids on 77 Brisbane food shops and uncovered 58 in breach of workplace laws and a total of $404,721 in unpaid entitlements.
Of those, 53 had short-changed staff, including one business which owed $80,258 to 68 full and part-time employees while 26 had failed to meet pay slip and record-keeping requirements.
The FWO focused on businesses judged to be at high risk of breaking workplace laws, which had a history of non-compliance, employed vulnerable visa holders or had been the subject of anonymous tip-offs.
“Uncovering high levels of non-compliance in Brisbane’s fast food, restaurant and cafe sector, as the FWO has nationwide, is disappointing,” said Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker.
“Employers can’t pick and choose which wage laws they follow and those doing the wrong thing are being found out.”
The most common breaches were failures to pay penalty rates or casual loading (40 businesses), underpayment of the minimum hourly rate of pay (37), and breaches of pay slip laws (19).
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The regulator said it had recovered $383,983 for 609 workers from 49 businesses through issuing compliance notices, with the remaining wages back paid before notices were issued.
The FWO also issued 29 infringement notices for pay slip and record-keeping breaches which resulted in $78,932 in fines and matters with two businesses were ongoing.
The ombudsman warned non-compliant businesses that any future breaches could lead to higher-level enforcement action taken by the body.
The Brisbane audits came after the FWO conducted surprise inspections of 24 cafes and restaurants across Launceston last month with almost 150 workers back paid over $120,000.
“The Fair Work Ombudsman will continue to prioritise improving compliance in this sector, which we know employs many young workers and visa holders who can each be vulnerable,” Ms Parker said.
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