- Published on
By Catherine Watson
ANOTHER week, another report of a high-end city restaurant underpaying staff. It’s business as usual, with many of the underpaid staff on migrant visas or in other vulnerable positions.
But it would be a mistake to believe that country workers are in a better position than their city counterparts with wage theft common in the hospitality industry here as well.
A friend of mine worked at a local café. She started on $18 an hour, cash in hand. She worked five days a week, including Saturdays. After three months her pay went up to $20.
ANOTHER week, another report of a high-end city restaurant underpaying staff. It’s business as usual, with many of the underpaid staff on migrant visas or in other vulnerable positions.
But it would be a mistake to believe that country workers are in a better position than their city counterparts with wage theft common in the hospitality industry here as well.
A friend of mine worked at a local café. She started on $18 an hour, cash in hand. She worked five days a week, including Saturdays. After three months her pay went up to $20.
The hospitality award shows a minimum pay rate of $25 an hour for casuals. On Saturdays it’s $30 an hour. Employers are also required to pay 9% superannuation.
My friend received no pay slips, no superannuation. She asked several times to “go on the books”. The café owner said yes but nothing changed.
I estimate these respectable business people stole several thousand dollars from her over the year. They stole similar amounts from every one of their workers.
By the time my friend left, after almost a year, there had been at least a 200 per cent turnover of staff. At least one made an anonymous complaint to the Fair Work Commission.
The café owners had already had to back pay a former employee at another café they ran.
Yet they continued to underpay. It’s profitable, after all, and there are no penalties if they are caught, beyond repaying the employee the money they are owed.
I won’t name the café here, because I would find it hard to prove my tale in a court of law – there are no written records, after all – but I don’t go there and I tell other people to avoid it, and why.
I’m sure most of us would prefer to patronise businesses where staff are paid fairly, but how do we identify them?
How about making fair wages a marketing point? Let cafes and restaurants that are doing the right thing invite the relevant union in to audit their wage records and speak to staff. If everything is above board, the union issues the business with a sticker, like a Fair Trade sticker, that they can display on their window, giving customers the opportunity to show their support for businesses that treat their staff fairly.
My friend’s experience made me reflect on the decline in pay and working conditions for so many Australians over the past couple of decades.
As did This working life, a chilling account of working poor in the previous edition of the Post in which the writer, Kaz, describes a life of low pay and irregular hours. “There are thousands of workers just like me,” she noted.
I migrated to Australia in 1981, when the place was a worker’s paradise. I couldn’t believe the pay and conditions. And if you got sick of your job, you just wandered into the Commonwealth Employment Service and got another.
It seems to me that many older people, now retired from life-long secure jobs, have little understanding of how vulnerable many working people are today.
I wrote this for them.
My friend received no pay slips, no superannuation. She asked several times to “go on the books”. The café owner said yes but nothing changed.
I estimate these respectable business people stole several thousand dollars from her over the year. They stole similar amounts from every one of their workers.
By the time my friend left, after almost a year, there had been at least a 200 per cent turnover of staff. At least one made an anonymous complaint to the Fair Work Commission.
The café owners had already had to back pay a former employee at another café they ran.
Yet they continued to underpay. It’s profitable, after all, and there are no penalties if they are caught, beyond repaying the employee the money they are owed.
I won’t name the café here, because I would find it hard to prove my tale in a court of law – there are no written records, after all – but I don’t go there and I tell other people to avoid it, and why.
I’m sure most of us would prefer to patronise businesses where staff are paid fairly, but how do we identify them?
How about making fair wages a marketing point? Let cafes and restaurants that are doing the right thing invite the relevant union in to audit their wage records and speak to staff. If everything is above board, the union issues the business with a sticker, like a Fair Trade sticker, that they can display on their window, giving customers the opportunity to show their support for businesses that treat their staff fairly.
My friend’s experience made me reflect on the decline in pay and working conditions for so many Australians over the past couple of decades.
As did This working life, a chilling account of working poor in the previous edition of the Post in which the writer, Kaz, describes a life of low pay and irregular hours. “There are thousands of workers just like me,” she noted.
I migrated to Australia in 1981, when the place was a worker’s paradise. I couldn’t believe the pay and conditions. And if you got sick of your job, you just wandered into the Commonwealth Employment Service and got another.
It seems to me that many older people, now retired from life-long secure jobs, have little understanding of how vulnerable many working people are today.
I wrote this for them.
I worked hard
(WHINY VOICE)
“I worked hard for everything I’ve got.”
You hear it a lot.
Especially in letters to the editor
about bloody hopeless “young people”.
Don’t get me started.
Five minutes in a job.
And they chuck it in.
Why don’t they knuckle down
And get a mortgage
Like we did?
We worked hard.
And bought a house ...
Come to think of it,
Houses cost bugger all.
Especially down this way.
And did we really work so hard?
Probably not, unless you were a miner
or a plumber or a road worker.
Even then you got to lean on a shovel
and have a smoke
and a bit of a yack.
You had your rights.
The right not to be sacked
Unless you did something
Absolutely Bloody Stupid
(And even then you had to
Do it two more times
Before you got your final final warning)
The right to a living wage.
The right to sick pay.
The right to holiday pay.
Thank god for sickies and RDOs.
If you eked `em out
you could work four days a week
every week
for five days’ pay.
Just enough to get you through
to your four weeks off
with your 17 and a half per cent loading.
Remember that?
Someone explained it to me.
When I came to Australia
“Stands to reason.
When you’re on holiday
You need more money to spend.”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
The place was a workers’ paradise.
But that was then.
And this is now ...
Here’s the way it is today.
Forget the holiday pay loading.
Because you won’t get holiday pay.
Down this way the going rate
is $20 an hour.
That’s cash in hand.
(WHINY VOICE)
“I worked hard for everything I’ve got.”
You hear it a lot.
Especially in letters to the editor
about bloody hopeless “young people”.
Don’t get me started.
Five minutes in a job.
And they chuck it in.
Why don’t they knuckle down
And get a mortgage
Like we did?
We worked hard.
And bought a house ...
Come to think of it,
Houses cost bugger all.
Especially down this way.
And did we really work so hard?
Probably not, unless you were a miner
or a plumber or a road worker.
Even then you got to lean on a shovel
and have a smoke
and a bit of a yack.
You had your rights.
The right not to be sacked
Unless you did something
Absolutely Bloody Stupid
(And even then you had to
Do it two more times
Before you got your final final warning)
The right to a living wage.
The right to sick pay.
The right to holiday pay.
Thank god for sickies and RDOs.
If you eked `em out
you could work four days a week
every week
for five days’ pay.
Just enough to get you through
to your four weeks off
with your 17 and a half per cent loading.
Remember that?
Someone explained it to me.
When I came to Australia
“Stands to reason.
When you’re on holiday
You need more money to spend.”
I couldn’t believe my ears.
The place was a workers’ paradise.
But that was then.
And this is now ...
Here’s the way it is today.
Forget the holiday pay loading.
Because you won’t get holiday pay.
Down this way the going rate
is $20 an hour.
That’s cash in hand.
The boss doesn’t want to worry
about Workcover,
taxes, super
and all that guff.
“You’re better off
not paying tax,”
she tells the kid.
It sounds sensible …
Until you do the arithmetic
No holiday pay.
No penalty rates.
No casual loading.
No super.
No sick pay.
But who does the arithmetic?
Besides, he likes the work.
He’s busy, he’s learning heaps,
His workmates make him laugh.
For his $20 an hour
He’s on call six days a week
He’s rostered on to start at 10.
A text from the boss at 9.
“Make it noon.”
He’s meant to work till 5.
It’s a quiet day.
“You can go at 2.”
As if she’s doing him a favour.
Last week he worked 16 hours
And couldn’t pay the rent.
He tells the boss
“I need more hours.”
She looks annoyed.
The unspoken:
“There are plenty more
Where you came from.”
He needs a second job
But his hours are so
Unpredictable
How can he get another job?
One day he blows his stack.
He sends them a text
… Just before lunchtime
on their busiest day.
“Shove it up your arse.”
“Good riddance,” she replies
and thinks “Ungrateful little shit.
After everything I did for him.”
He fine tunes the resume
And drops it off around the place.
There are plenty more jobs.
Just like that one.
Comments are closed.
And every time the government thinks it is a good idea to have a public holiday because a bunch of footballers parade in front of their fans must make every small business owner groan with the additional cost it will mean.
And with every change in government the issue of penalties is back on the table with so many grandfathering arrangements that it is hard to keep up.
I am not excusing the owners who do not pay the appropriate wage - they should - but perhaps people should now be looking at the broader picture - and that is - can small business in hospitality really afford penalty rates?
Second, if everyone is paying the same then it comes down to supply and demand. Cafes and restaurants and even pubs might decide it’s not profitable to open at weekends and on public holidays. That increases the patronage at the places that do open.
I saw an interesting example of this in Cowes on grand final Sunday. A friend and I were in the main street looking for somewhere to have coffee at 3pm, when it seemed as if every café was just bringing in its signs and stacking the chairs. My friend said “That’s why I don’t go out for coffee in Cowes.”
Then we stumbled across a new specialty café doing a roaring trade. There must have been 50 people inside and spilling out onto the footpath. Despite the busyness, our coffees (good) were delivered within five minutes. Those staff were certainly earning their penalty rates, and then some!
Incidentally Brunettis, the big city café, charges a 10 per cent surcharge on public holidays. It doesn’t seem to affect their business.
I would also add that paying cash under the counter deprives the community of tax revenue needed to provide the government services we all expect and deserve.
A Fair Wage sticker would be an excellent solution - if the unions can't/wont provide this, I wonder if there are trusted local/community organisations who could?
I was privileged to hear the Author deliver "I Worked Hard" at the annual Mayday rally under the Whistle in Wonthaggi in 2018.
I suspect that things have gotten worse since then.
I agree that if cafes advertised the fact that they pay award (or above!) people would make the ethical choice. We do it for chickens (free range v craven) why not do it for our people who get up so early and work so hard so that we can socialize across the breakfast menu.
Also, exploitation locally is the tip of the iced coffee berg - there is child slavery at the other end of the supply chain.
https://medium.com/@MarinaTMartinez/coffee-slavery-destruction-and-shortage-c915d430390e
I look forward to hearing more people speak out about workplace exploitation and other issues (climate, refugees, discrimination, aged care et al) at the 2020 Mayday rally under the Whistle.
Members are building a powerful movement to fight back against wage theft, bullying and sexual harassment. They've already had some big wins and dodgy bosses are on the back foot.
Now is our time to stand together and turn the tables on this industry for good.
https://www.hospovoice.org.au
Want to know the truth about your local café?
Some venues do the right thing and look after their staff.
But there are others who are creeps and rip their workers off on the regular. And now you can do something about it.
Introducing FairPlate.org.au.
It’s a website created by hospitality workers where you can see what’s really happening under the table.
Don't be afraid to ask the people serving you if they are getting a fair deal. The consumer has all the power in this relationship.
Consider this...The combined market capitalisation of Apple, Facebook, Google and Amazon is greater than the GDP of most countries on earth. In fact there are only five countries that have a larger GDP. These companies are totally out of control. They are tax avoiders and because they don’t pay their fair share of tax we all need to pay more. The Governments around the world need to treat these companies the same as they treat any large corporation and hold them to account.
In my view every human being is entitled to a wage that covers all reasonable living costs....food,housing,medical and education. You might say that this is impossible, however it’s not if the regulators modify the tax systems so that there is a fairer distribution of wealth.
Cheers