114 Canberra restaurants were issued with breach notices by the Office of Workplace Services (OWS) for not meeting minimum employment laws. A total of 218 Canberra restaurants were audited.
OWS has claimed to have recovered around $386,500 for 520 employees that were ripped off.
The question is: how much of that has actually made it into employee’s bank accounts?
OWS was asked to explain how it monitored whether or not employees had actually received the money they were owed at Estimates on 2 Novemberr 2006. However, OWS still has not provided the Senate Committee with an answer!
While recovering the money owed to the employees from the restaurants is critical so is ensuring that employees to whom it is owed receive the back-pay they are entitled to.
The other question from Senate Estimates the OWS is yet to answer is why they only pursued three prosecutions when they have identified 114 breaches? Does this mean all 114 paid all monies owing?
And I think Canberrans have a right to know which restaurants breached what law, and to what extent.
I call on the Howard Government to provide these overdue answers to questions asked through the proper accountability processes of the Federal Parliament: Senate Estimates.
Migrant and young workers particularly vulnerable – and not just in Canberra!
It is astonishing that similar investigations into the hospitality industry have not taken place in other towns and cities.
Surely Canberra restaurants are not the only restaurants underpaying staff and bringing the sector into disrepute!The fact that the hospitality sector hasn’t come under closer scrutiny in other states goes to show that the only thing that will swing OWS into action is public pressure.
The Canberra Restaurant audit was a direct result of Canberra workers, local unions and Labor raising a number of employment breaches publicly, ultimately in the Federal Parliament.
Without this pressure it is unlikely that the matter ever would have been investigated by OWS.Unfortunately, employment wages and conditions are only going to get worse under the Howard Governments extreme IR laws as employees become even more vulnerable and employers are handed more power.
Both migrant workers and young workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation under the Howard Government’s extreme changes to workplace which allows employers to insist on individual contracts (AWA’s) which undermine existing wages and conditions.
When combined with no protection from unfair dismissal, young workers and migrant workers are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
This is an appalling legacy for the next generation of working people.I call on the ACT Chamber of Commerce to specifically condemn the underpayment of wages in the hospitality sector and withdraw their support and representation for employers who refuse to abide by the law and pay what they owe.
Labor is committed to restoring the workplace balance so everyone gets a fair go at work.
Contact: Rachel Allen – 0418 488 295
