More than $390,000 in wages have been recovered for 479 underpaid workers in Darwin food precincts as a result of surprise inspections conducted by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Fair Work Inspectors targeted 48 businesses across 22 suburbs, including Darwin City, Casuarina and Palmerston City. Businesses were selected based on being deemed a high risk of breaching workplace laws, having a history of non-compliance with the FWO, being the subject of anonymous tip-offs, or employing vulnerable visa holders. The investigations found that 76 per cent of businesses targeted were non-compliant.
Of the 34 businesses found to be in breach, 31 had underpaid their workers and 10 had failed to meet pay slip and record-keeping requirements.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said the audits were part of a national program that has targeted food precincts in Melbourne, Brisbane, Sydney, the Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide, Hobart and Launceston.
“It is disappointing to find high rates of non-compliance in Darwin’s fast food, restaurant and café sector, something that has been found in many cities nationally,” Parker said. “Employers can’t pick and choose which wage laws they follow and those doing the wrong thing are being found out. We will continue to prioritise improving compliance in this sector and protecting vulnerable workers such as visa holders and students who are over-represented.”
The most common breaches found were the failure to pay penalty rates or casual loading (28 businesses), followed by underpayment of the minimum hourly rate of pay (13 businesses) and the failure to pay correct overtime allowances (13 businesses).
The FWO issued a Compliance Notice each to 32 businesses, recovering $390,177 for 465 workers. There were 10 Infringement Notices issued for payslip and record-keeping breaches, resulting in $12,792 in fines paid. Three businesses remain under investigation. The largest recovery amounted to $94,687 from one business for 15 casual and part-time employees who had been underpaid their minimum wages and weekend penalties.
Non-compliant businesses were also reminded that any future breaches may lead to higher-level enforcement action by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
