Surprise inspections at ‘cheap eats’ venues in Cairns have resulted in a whopping $217,806 recovered for 209 employees.
Fair Work Inspectors targeted 35 businesses including restaurants, cafes, and fast food outlets in Cairns City, Cairns North, Palm Cove, and Trinity Beach.
The venues were selected based on a range of criteria from anonymous tips to Fair Work intelligence.
A total of 31 investigations were finalised during the blitz, with the results finding 74 per cent of businesses had breached workplace laws that ranged from failure to pay penalty rates to underpaying minimum wages, and not paying the right allowances.
$47,576 was the largest sum recovered from a business, with six workers underpaid penalty rates and rates of pay.
The Fair Work Ombudsman issued 23 compliance notices to recover $217,806 as well as 11 infringement notices for pay slip and record keeping breaches, which resulted in $12,895 in fines paid.
“These disappointing Cairns findings are part of a national food precincts program where we’ve often found that low-cost dining comes at the expense of workers’ lawful wages,” said Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth.
“Employers must follow all wage laws, including penalty rates which generally serve as compensation for those working at times when most people are not. Those doing the wrong thing are being found out and held to account.”
Investigations into four businesses remain ongoing.
