woroni VOL. 68, Issue 05. Week 9, Semester 1, 2018
PAGE 7
PAGE 18
PAGE 35
PAGE 42
food for social change "Food reminds us that, deep down, we are all the same."
unfair game "Who can you trust in this unfair game?"
how changing consumer habits can help save your planet and money
broken plans "Sometimes it feels like I'm carrying the spectre of chronic illness around on my shoulder."
GIVING STUDENTS A VOICE Woroni investigates employers' illegal workplace behaviour
Text: Max Koslowski Graphic: Sophie Bear All the names in this piece have been changed to protect those individuals’ identities. When Lauren started working at a major food chain in Canberra city, she just wanted to make some quick cash to support her through university. Instead, she was underpaid by more than $5 per hour, and was not given any weekend or holiday penalty rates. When she left the workplace and had a look at her superannuation account, she realised that even though superannuation had been taken out of her payslips, no such account had ever existed. “It was a culture of chronic underpayment, overworking people and making people scared,” Lauren told Woroni. And when she thought about reporting the franchisee to the Fair Work Commission she stopped herself, because she “was too scared” about how her boss would react. Lauren’s story is not isolated. In the past week, Woroni has spoken to more than 30 students who have been underpaid, unfairly dismissed from work, or not paid the superannuation and annual leave that they are entitled to. Jonathan had just started working at a highend Canberra bar when his boss requested that he, along with all the other staff, attend two days of training.
“All of the staff were required to come to two days of compulsory training to get to know the venue, the food and the drinks we would be serving,” he explained. “No staff members were paid for training for either of those days.” It is illegal for a business to not pay for work training: the only time they can ask you to work for free is during a trial shift, and even then, the rules are strict. An employer can test out a potential barista for an hour to see them demonstrate essential skills, but they cannot keep them in unpaid trial shifts for a week. This wasn’t the only way that Jonathan’s workplace shortchanged him. He didn’t receive penalty rates, or over-time, throughout his time there. And his boss managed to avoid paying him the casual hospitality award by signing him onto to cheaper, part-time award rate: even though he never received consistent hours. Lisa also worked at a popular Canberra bar, and was similarly rorted. She was often pushed to stay back at work for an extra three or four hours of unpaid work. “I was a waitress, and service stopped at 10pm for food but they’d keep me there until one or two in the morning cleaning up the club with no extra pay,” she said. Lisa was also illegally classified as a parttime worker, which meant that she accumulated leave throughout her time
as a waitress. But when she went to leave the hospitality job, she struggled to get a hold of the money she was owed. “I had to chase up a few different people to get my holiday loading when I left – took about two months – but it got to me eventually,” she told Woroni. Students have reached out to Woroni with claims that they are getting paid as little as $11 per hour. For a low-level, 20-year-old casual hospitality employee, the award rate is $23.51 per hour. When working from 7pm-12am, employees must be paid an extra $2.13 per hour. For work between midnight and 7am, they must be paid an extra $3.19 an hour. Casual hospitality workers are also owed penalty rates for work on Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. These range from $28.22 per hour on a Saturday, to a base rate of $47.03 an hour on a public holiday. The Fair Work Commission has an anonymous reporting service that helps them catch out businesses that are exploiting workers. In 2017, Cafe Garema in Canberra city was taken to court by the commission for paying its twelve employees between $14 and $20 per hour. The owners also failed to hand out payslips, and keep records of pay.
The year before, the Fair Work Commission forced Nando’s, in Canberra Centre, to pay back their young workers more than $27,000. According to their report on the matter, workers were paid a flat rate of $18 per hour. Last week, the ABC reported that Melbourne's Barry cafe was accused of underpaying staff by at least $5 per hour. The Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating the claims. "Young workers make up about 16 percent of the Australian workforce but account for a disproportionately high 25 percent of requests for assistance to the agency. Last year 44 percent of the litigants we filed in court involved young workers," Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said earlier this year. “Young workers can be vulnerable in the workplace as they are often not fully aware of their rights or reluctant to complain if they think something is wrong." For international students attending university in Australia, the problem is even more evident. According to a report from the Migrant Worker Justice Initiative, a quarter of international students earn $12 per hour or less. W Woroni is investigating claims that students have been mistreated at work. If you have been underpaid, or otherwise exploited, email the news editor at max@woroni.com.au.