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Raids by the FWO found wage and payslip breaches at three-quarters of the outlets.
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Sydney restaurants forced to back pay short-changed staff $240k
28 April 2023
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9 minute read
The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has raided 49 restaurants in inner Sydney and forced employers to back pay almost $240,000 to short-changed staff.
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More than three-quarters of the food outlets investigated in Haymarket, Chinatown, Darling Harbour, Barangaroo, Surry Hills, and Darlinghurst were in breach of workplace laws including 31 that underpaid workers and 22 that failed to keep records of pay and hours.
Most common breaches were underpaying minimum hourly rates (30 businesses), failure to pay penalty rates (24) and breaches of payslip laws (21).
The FWO said it recovered a total of $239,505 in wages for 333 underpaid workers with 47 investigations complete. That included one business forced to pay $52,081 to 18 casuals and full-timers.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said the inspections were part of a national program that had targeted food precincts in capital cities, with more than $2 million recovered for workers so far.
“Uncovering high levels of non-compliance in Sydney’s fast food, restaurant and café sector, as the FWO has nationwide, is disappointing,” she said. “Employers can’t pick and choose which wage laws they follow and those doing the wrong thing are being found out.”
Businesses were selected for surprise inspections based on their risk of breaching workplace laws. At-risk businesses had a history of non-compliance with the FWO, had been the subject of anonymous tip-offs, or employed vulnerable visa holders.
The FWO issued compliance notices to 31 businesses to recover the wage underpayments and 27 infringements for payslip and record-keeping breaches resulting in fines of $90,354.
The regulator continues to investigate two businesses and non-compliant businesses were told that future breaches might lead to higher-level enforcement action.
“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 be vulnerable,” Ms Parker said.
The FWO has an agreement with the Department of Home Affairs that allows visa holders to request assistance over work rights without fear of visa cancellation.
It said information and interactive tools to help employers and employees in the fast food, restaurant and café sector were available on the FWO’s website, including a pay calculator.
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