Help, I Think My Friend Is Being Underpaid

t_c on 29/08/2015 - 07:43
Last edited 29/08/2015 - 15:04

Hi,

My friend is here on a student visa and was looking for some work over the holidays, she was lucky to find a job as a waitress at a food establishment in a major shopping centre at carindale.

They are paying her $14 an hour. No penalties and no penalty rates over the recent show day public holiday.

She is too scared to say anything to the employer in fear of loosing her job.

She has supplied her tax file number so this job is not meant to be a cash job.

The employer also has not supplied a payslip.

The employer asked her if she would like to be paid cash directly or to put the money in the bank.

For her first pay she said she'll take cash.

I told her she should've asked for it to go in the bank so there's a record of it. And to keep a record of all hours cause I think she is being underpaid.

She then asked for her pay to be put in the bank,

And now her hours have suddenly dried up.

It seems my 'advice' may have cost her the job.

I'm not a expert on award wages but I believe she is underpaid am I right?

Should she complain and who too exactly?

Thank you.

Education & Work

Comments

  • TetrisMango on 29/08/2015 - 08:29
    +1

    This website is a good place to start to see what your friends' employer is not abiding by:
    http://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements/national-em…

    Your friend may complain to the FWA if she is not being paid at least minimum wage and not receiving any penalty rates.

    If you have any further questions, I will try my best to answer them.

    Best of luck to your friend.

  • ozhunter on 29/08/2015 - 08:33
    +3

    For her first pay she said she'll take cash.

    Why? Boss probably interpreted as that being off the books as that is the reasons why those on visas asked for cash.

    And now her hours have suddenly dried up.

    I'm assuming she is a casual worker.

    She then asked for her pay to be put in the bank,

    Did her wage increase?

    It seems my 'advice' may have cost her the job.

    If her wage didn't change, then she is being underpaid. The boss may have thought she wanted to be paid cash-in-hand so she could work more hours than is allowed or for her to pay less tax. Now she seems legally employed so there is no point giving her more hours as it's costing the boss the same. He likely decided to share the shifts around more equally.

    • t_c on 29/08/2015 - 11:45
      +2

      I don't think so, the pay rate was set beforehand and the tfn was done when she started, the employer only asked on payday if she wanted her weeks pay in cash or in the bank, and she had to sign something to say she had been paid in cash.

      She has been on holidays and still is on holidays so is able to work full time hours until classes start then she can do 20 hours per week.

      she has no intention of working more than is legally allowed.

      The job only was a few days a week on a casual basis, but at the moment its 0 days a week.

  • oscargamer on 29/08/2015 - 08:57
    +1

    don't forget super contributions

  • Cave Fire on 29/08/2015 - 11:34
    +1

    It seems that this is unfortunately very common in Brisbane. A few years ago, I heard of people getting paid $10 an hour in restuarants and I was sort of offered one of these jobs as well. Even if it's going into a bank, the minimum wage in Australia is $17.29. If you are going off an award, I think this is higher again. And you even add super on top of this if you earn more than $450 a month. You complain to the Fair work ombudsman, "Employers or employees seeking assistance should contact the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94 or visit www.fairwork.gov.au. A free interpreter service is available on 13 14 50. Details of a similiar case Here

    • t_c on 29/08/2015 - 11:54

      Thankyou, I will pass on the information.

  • altomic on 29/08/2015 - 11:42
    +2

    the employer is illegally exploiting your friend.

    the employer should be reported.

    I assume that other people working for that food establishment are being paid the same way.

    your friend and her co-workers would be able to make a claim for back pay of wages and benefits.

    she should make a list of dates and hours worked as part of that claim.

    inevitably your friend will get another job.

  • Randxyz123 on 29/08/2015 - 14:06
    +2

    If she is at Uni the uni will have free services (usually called Student Rights) where she can get help with this sort of thing (even legal help if necessary).

    They can assist her with contacting fair work

    Hopefully even though she got cash she has a payslip or something to prove what she was paid?

    It is very upsetting to see that this is happening especially to international students who are too scared to speak up incase they are told not to come back but need the money.

    Contacting Fair Work is the next step.

  • Doggiie on 29/08/2015 - 14:32
    +5

    It's very common to be underpaid, especially with jobs in relations to Asian culture (restaurants, butchery etc.). Although illegal, its a necessary evil to keep the world running. I used to be paid $12 as a waiter, cash in hand, no documents at all, and it sucked. But I kept in mind, "I chose to work here, they did not force me to" so I just persevered. There's one side which says 'it is illegal to pay under minimum wage' and there's the other side which says 'hey at least we are nice enough to give you a job', so if your friend isn't happy, go quit the job. If your friend wouldn't survive without the job, well suck it up and take it until they find a new job.

    One day I got fed up and I asked them for $15/hr on the table, or else I'm leaving. They told me to leave then. So I left, and I gave them a an exiting present, I reported them to the Fair Work Commission and the Australian Tax Office for being underpaid AND tax evasion. Strangely enough 2 months later, they closed down. I did not receive compensation because they claimed to not have been able to 'complete' their investigations. So pretty much officials coaxed them to close down before they got sued.

    This is what happens when you hire an Australian born Asian studying corporations law and knows the ins and outs of the system. Since your friend is a foreigner, then I guess he/she just needs to talk to a legal volunteer.

  • DeafMutePretender on 29/08/2015 - 23:13
    +2

    Although illegal, its a necessary evil to keep the world running.
    It's evil but is it really necessary though? If businesses, Asian or not, cannot comply the most basic of laws (paying a fair/minimum wage), then these businesses should not, pardon the pun, be in the business of business. There are several reasons why this necessary evil should be eradicated:

    1) It exploits the vulnerable (employees)

    2) A good market is one where every business follow the same rules. Think of it as sports: what's the point of having a game if one side thinks they can go from one side of the court to the other without dribbling? I mean dribble as in bouncing the basketball, not dribbling as in saliva coming out of your mouth uncontrollably. Worst case scenario, you have situations where the mafia (organized business crime) make above normal profits while the honest businesses only make small profits and I doubt most people would have good things to say about the mafia.

    3) Paying lower than minimum wage is just a cost externalization. You have situations like in America where businesses don't pay fair wage which leads to the Government supporting (topping up the income of) the exploited worker, which is effectively a form of business subsidy. If these businesses can't survive without government subsidies, then too bad. This is no different to products that don't have the price of environmental damage (the harm to the environment in the making of said product) factored into it. Note that I'm not completely against subsidies for businesses but that's another story.

    So I left, and I gave them a an exiting present, I reported them to the Fair Work Commission and the Australian Tax Office for being underpaid AND tax evasion. Strangely enough 2 months later, they closed down. I did not receive compensation because they claimed to not have been able to 'complete' their investigations. So pretty much officials coaxed them to close down before they got sued.

    Good. Follow the law or giiiiiiiit out. Too bad about the international student employees who probably lost their jobs but like you said, it's a necessary evil. By the way, how did those employees react to the situation? Or did you already disappear and not see the aftermath?

    • Doggiie on 30/08/2015 - 13:35

      1) Yes I completely agree it exploits the vulnerable. But there are lots of things that exploits the vulnerable. The only reason why you think this one is not okay is because it actually breaches the law. For example, one pay exploitation is paying under 21s only a portion of the legal minimum wage. Do you really believe that a 16 year old is less capable in flipping burgers than a 25 year old? This is a form of necessary evil to give employers an incentive to employ younger people, because its cheaper. But that follows the law, so it's totally okay.

      2) A good market is indeed when everyone plays by the same rules. But where there is blurred lines, every business would want to capitalise on it to maximise their firm's value. If you are able to make $1 more, why wouldn't you? Then it goes into the part where there is ethics and the 'Pareto efficiency' ecosystem. Every dollar you make extra, I can guarantee you it will 'hurt' someone, in one way or another.

      3) Having no minimum wage is actually the 'best' form of minimum wage. Then people completely work for their own 'self-worth'. If you think flipping burgers is worth $5/hr (i.e. your reservation price), then you will accept any job above that, if you think its worth $100/hr, then good luck finding work for that. Employers then have to play the game of putting their wage high enough for getting enough employees to work. This only affects the jobs which are at minimum wage though, which is actually a large proportion of unskilled jobs. This will also open up a lot of jobs, albeit low paying ones, which can potentially add a lot more productivity to Australia.

      Though that's all ideal, but due to self-greed, every employer will happily exploit employees at their own will.

      Good. Follow the law or giiiiiiiit out. Too bad about the international student employees who probably lost their jobs but like you said, it's a necessary evil. By the way, how did those employees react to the situation? Or did you already disappear and not see the aftermath?

      The restaurant had an incredibly high employee turnover, with at least 1-2 a month. I only stayed there for 6 months before I was fed up. I didn't make too many friends there, because sadly they didn't speak good English and always speak in Chinese (and my background language is Vietnamese), but the two people I did keep in contact with, one moved to another Chinese restaurant, the pay is slightly better but still under minimum wage at $15, and the other became a dodgey Asian builder working under a contractor (probably exploited in another way).

  • Sweetnsour on 30/08/2015 - 08:40

    You are legally entitled to payslip. If they do not provide, then the enployer has something to hide.

    If the employer needs to do underhanded tactics to survive then they should not be operating in the first place.

  • StarkIndustries on 01/09/2015 - 20:04

    Crazy how this issue has been raised lately. Grill'd will now be paying their employees more and same issue with 7/11.

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