Audit of fast-food outlets finds half exploit their workers
Sydney Morning Herald reported that half of all fast-food outlets audited by Australia’s workplace watchdog are underpaying their staff, and the overwhelming majority violate payroll obligations.
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s nationwide investigation into the fast-food sector has alarmingly revealed just 53 per cent of 565 spot-checked employers have been paying their staff correctly.
The findings add to concerns about exploitation and illegal wages in the Australian hospitality industry, where a where an economy of cash-in-hand jobs appears to be deep-rooted.
Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Michael Campbell said the troubling findings revealed in the latest audit underscored the need for the hospitality sector to remain a “priority” industry for the watchdog
“Clearly, the take-away food sector, an industry comprised largely of small businesses, is grappling with the complexity of the industrial relations system,” he said.
The audit of fast-food employers is the third and final “wave” of the agency’s three-year hospitality industry campaign. The sweeping investigation unearthed similarly high levels of wage underpayments and industrial non-compliance across pubs, bars, taverns, hotels, restaurants, cafes and catering companies nationally.
Fair Work inspectors said the most common violations by fast-food employers were undercutting minimum hourly wages and denying overtime and weekend penalty rates.
“Inspectors found some employers providing flat rates of pay for all hours worked, with many advising they had adopted this practice to simplify their payroll processes,” Mr Campbell said.
“In nearly one-third of cases, the hourly rate paid was not enough to cover hours attracting penalty rates and loadings, resulting in additional errors.”
Council of Small Business Australia chief executive Peter Strong said hospitality employers often hired vulnerable people such as young workers or people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
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