Wage theft is a business model for some Adelaide employers and was almost non-existent when we had strong unions. The story below if from the SMH.
“Bosses who deliberately underpay workers could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined up to $1.65 million in the new year, while companies risk fines of more than $8 million.
Landmark wage theft laws that come into effect on January 1 this year will make intentional underpayment of workers a crime across the nation.
Workplace Minister Murray Watt said the laws were aimed at organisations deliberately committing the offence, and would not apply to honest mistakes or employers who inadvertently underpaid workers.
“Workers who steal from their boss can already be charged with theft. It should be no different for bosses who deliberately steal their workers’ wages,” Watt said in a statement.
The workplace reform will likely become a key government pitch to workers as the major parties prepare for a federal election in the first half of the new year.
Investigations by this masthead in recent years have exposed endemic underpayment of workers in the franchising industry, including 7-Eleven, Caltex, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, and Retail Food Group. In 2020, 7-Eleven paid back $173 million to more than 4000 workers.
The hospitality sector has also been dogged with issues, with high-end restaurants owned by Neil Perry’s Rockpool Dining Group and celebrity chef George Calombaris among those that have been embroiled in underpayment scandals.
Think tank The McKell Institute has estimated estimated Australian workers were being underpaid nearly $850 million a year.
Australian Council of Trade Unions assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell said, “This isn’t a regime for honest mistakes, this is a regime for deliberate, systemic underpayments.”
“There’s been a lot of notice of these laws coming in and so employers should be cleaning up their act and should be deterred from underpaying their workers from now.”
Workers will be able to take wage theft claims to their union, which would then make a case with the Fair Work Ombudsman. If the case is strong, it can then be referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions.
ADELAIDE CAPITAL OF WAGE THEFT
We do a lot of one page resumes for migrants and others who want to work as domestic and commercial cleaners.
Just under $20,000 in wages have been recovered for 29 cleaners around Adelaide by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), after an investigation into 17 commercial contract cleaning businesses.
The most common breaches were failures to pay penalty rates, underpayment of minimum hourly rates and failure to keep employee records.
When applying for a job, do a quick news scan on Google to see if they have ‘form’ with underpaying staff. Always check the payslip and check superannuation is being deducted.
Ten of those companies — which were investigated after anonymous tip-offs, customer enquiries or requests for help from the FWO — breached workplace laws.
The companies provided cleaning to shopping centres, among other sites.
Seven of the 10 companies which breached workplace laws underpaid employees, two had underpaid employees and failed to meet pay slip and record-keeping requirements and one other breached pay slip and record-keeping laws.
Ombudsman Sandra Parker said the contract cleaning industry was a new compliance priority for the agency.
“Contract cleaning is part of an industry that employs a lot of migrant workers, who we know are at higher risk of exploitation,” Ms Parker said.
“The cleaning sector has a significant history of non-compliance with workplace laws.”
It’s better to be warned than find employment with shonks.