By Aimee Chanthadavong
Seventy per cent of Victoria’s 7-Eleven stores that were randomly audited by the Fair Work Ombudsman are complying with national workplace laws.
A Fair Work Ombudsman told Retailbiz that during 2009-10, it undertook three national and 34 regional campaigns to focus on industries or areas where there has been a history of non-compliance.
“These campaigns provided education to employers and employees, and were followed by a period of auditing,” the spokesperson said. “The audits revealed varying degrees of compliance and non compliance trends depending on the industry sectors targeted.”
Fair Work inspectors went through the books of 56 7-Eleven stores in Melbourne and Geelong to ensure workers were being paid properly.
Thirty-nine were found to be fully compliant with workplace laws, while 17 (30 per cent) recorded contraventions.
“Record keeping and payslip contraventions were common findings, as were underpayments of minimum pay and leave entitlements,” the spokesperson said.
Sixty two workers were found to have been underpaid a total of $32,300. The largest underpayment was at a store in the south-east suburbs where 13 staff had been underpaid $9300.
“Where contraventions were found voluntary resolution was the usual outcome,” the spokesperson said.
“And when breaches of the law were identified, the Fair Work Ombudsman worked with employers to achieve voluntary compliance. Over $4 million was recovered for employees in 2009–10 as a result of these national and regional campaigns.”