Cairns Hospitality Crackdown: $217K Recovered for Underpaid Workers

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Home > Blog > Cairns Hospitality Crackdown: $217K Recovered for Underpaid Workers

12/08/2024

The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has announced that it has recovered $217,000 for workers in the Cairns hospitality industry.

The FWO targeted fast food businesses, restaurants and cafes who offered “cheap eats” across Cairns City, Cairns North, Palm Cove and Trinity Beach.

Out of the 35 businesses that were inspected, 23 were found to have breached workplace laws. Specifically:

21 businesses had failed to pay relevant penalty rates
11 businesses were underpaying minimum wages
9 businesses were not paying correct allowances

The “surprise inspections” conducted by the FWO on Cairns hospitality businesses occurred as part of the FWO’s national food precincts program. This national program of audits has previously targeted similar businesses across Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Hobart. The FWO’s food precincts inspections in Queensland alone have resulted in more than $1.15million being back paid to about 2000 workers. Businesses have been put on notice that ensuring compliance across the hospitality sector will remain an ongoing priority for the regulator.

The time is NOW for employers across all industries to review and ensure they are paying their employees correctly.

From 1 January 2025, a new federal wage theft offence will come into play. This offence was bought about by the Closing Loopholes Legislation passed by parliament in 2023. This criminal offence will apply to employers who intentionally underpay their employees. This offence will not be applied retrospectively and will only apply to wage theft that has occurred after the provision has commenced. Whilst the provision is not intended to apply to accidental underpayments, the fault elements of the offence can be extended to an employer if there is found to be a culture that encouraged, tolerated or led to the wage theft offence occurring.

Understanding Awards, allowances, penalty rates and classifying your staff can be tricky and confusing. We can help you. Our human resources team can roll up our sleeves and help you navigate your way through understanding wages and what it means to meet your obligations.