FWO orders deferred payment for Launceston food district workers

The Fair Work Ombudsman found that 144 underpaid workers in Launceston’s food district were underpaid in a survey conducted by Fair Work inspectors of 31 businesses spread across nine suburbs and neighboring towns in Launceston and the surrounding area. Collected $121,574 in workers’ wages. Violation of workplace law.

The investigation found that 24 companies were in violation, 23 of which were paying their employees underpaid. Seven of them did not meet payslip and record keeping requirements. The most common offenses were failure to pay penalty (19 establishments), followed by underpayment of minimum hourly wage (18 establishments) and failure to pay correct vacation pay (7 establishments).

Food areas in the Launceston area were subject to unannounced inspections by FWO based on the risk of violating workplace laws. Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said the inspections were in Hobart, Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, gold coastPerth, Adelaide, Darwin Collected over $2 million for employees.

“It is disappointing to see the high level of violations in Launceston’s fast food, restaurant and cafe sector, as FWO is doing nationwide,” Parker said. Laws cannot be chosen, and those who do wrong are being discovered.

“The Fair Work Ombudsman will continue to prioritize improving compliance in this area and protecting the rights of vulnerable workers, including visa holders and young people. Employers need help to meet their obligations. There are free tools and resources available if you are concerned,” she added.

In response to the violations, FWO issued compliance notices to 22 companies and recovered $117,199 against 142 employees. Seven breach notices were issued and $9988 fines were paid for payslip and recordkeeping violations. I have an ongoing issue related to two businesses.

The largest recovery from one business was $39,432 for 26 non-regular or full-time employees who were short of minimum wage and overtime, late-night, weekend, and holiday pay.

Non-compliant companies were told that future violations could lead to higher-level enforcement action by the Fair Work Ombudsman. Both non-compliant and compliant firms included visa holders and young workers.