At least three stalls at the Night Noodle Markets have been advertising for workers offering rates of pay well below the award rate, with one also attempting to take on a kitchenhand as a contractor.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Wage theft appears to be evident at the stalls, with online advertisements for staff blatantly advertising pay rates at least $4 an hour below the minimum casual rate.
Elana McLachlan was offered $20 an hour to work at the Pokky Poklol market stall, provided she had an Australian business number (ABN) and invoiced the stall for the work she did.
Ms McLachlan, 25, applied for an ABN and was refused because the type of employment did not qualify for an ABN.
A representative of the stall, who did not give his name, said the business was looking for chefs, despite the advertisement for hospitality staff, kitchen hands and chefs.
"Most of our chefs are self employed, they bring their own equipment," he said.
"We use a company called Sidekicker and they provide front of house staff for us."
Ms McLachlan was told in a Facebook message from the stall that "all chefs/cooks/kitchen staff are sole traders".
Sidekicker is a platform run by online careers giant Seek, where workers create a profile and can be connected with employers needing temporary workers. Unlike the workers contracted through Facebook ads, workers contracted through Sidekicker are employed by that company instead of the stallholders, and paid award rates.
Ms McLachlan said she was happy to be paid $20 an hour as a single parent looking for extra cash. She said she had struggled to find hospitality work in the last month and there would always be people prepared to work below minimum wage.
"Once I found out it wasn't the right thing, I was pretty angry to be honest. It was unfair to people like me who are hard working," she said.
"I think that [businesses] know that there are people out there like me who'll just do it."
Ms McLachlan said she struggled to find work because businesses preferred to employ junior staff and pay them less.
An advertisement posted to Gumtree for casual staff by Donburi Station offered an hourly rate of $20.
A man who answered the phone number on the advertisement said the minimum wage was $18.50 an hour. He did not provide his name.
While the minimum hourly rate for a full time worker in Australia is $18.93 an hour, workers in the stalls are likely to be covered under the fast food industry award or the restaurant industry award, and would be paid at casual rates.
The level one hourly rate for an adult casual worker under the restaurant award is $24.34 an hour, up to $29.21 on weekends.
Under the fast food award, the minimum rate of pay for a casual worker above the age of 21 is $25.99 an hour, and $31.19 on Saturdays and $33.26 on Sundays.
Gavin Ooi said workers at his Malaysian stall were paid a flat rate for each shift in a bid to prevent "bleeding the clock", where workers work slowly or fudge start and finish times.
He said chefs are paid around $200 a shift, while other staff are paid $100 a shift. The market is open for four hours a night on weekdays, and six and a half hours on weekends.
"It works out to be about $20 an hour. So that’s what we do," Mr Ooi said.
The flat rate works out more than $20 an hour on weekdays, but well below on weekends.
Not all stallholders are underpaying workers, with another business owner saying he paid his staff by the fast food award. The stallholder said it was hard to compete with stalls who don't pay the correct rates, as they can charge less for their product in a crowded market.
Wage theft is rampant, said Lyndal Ryan, secretary of the ACT branch of United Voice, the union covering hospitality workers.
While some people do know what they're entitled to, many do not, she said.
"More frighteningly, people know they're being underpaid but the attiude is if you work in hospitality of course you're going to be underpaid," she said
Workers being asked to work as contractors is increasing as cash is used less, Ms Ryan said.
"It's certainly something that drives underpayment. The thing is cash is drying up somewhat in the system so paying people out of the till is harder than it used to be. So people are looking to other means of achieving the same end."
A spokeswoman for the Night Noodle Markets said people who knew of stallholders breaking the law should contact the organisers.
"All stallholders at the Canberra Night Noodle Markets are contractually obligated by Fairfax Events to operate in a proper and professional manner, and comply with all laws in connection to the operation of their stall at the event," the spokeswoman said.
"We take this issue seriously and if anyone has concerns about stallholder breaching the law then we encourage them to get in touch with us so that the matter can be addressed."
The Night Noodle Markets are owned and run by Fairfax Events as part of the company's sponsorship of the Enlighten Festival. Fairfax Events is owned by Nine, publisher of The Canberra Times.
A spokeswoman for Events ACT, which is responsible for the Enlighten Festival, said the festival should be run in accordance with the law.
"The Canberra Night Noodle Markets are coordinated and delivered wholly and solely by Fairfax Events and the sponsorship agreement between EventsACT and Fairfax Events stipulates that Canberra Night Noodle Markets are conducted in a safe and professional manner, in accordance with all applicable laws," the spokeswoman said.
Update: This article has been updated to reflect the difference in workers paid through Sidekicker and those paid separately.
