There is a policy that if employees are found to eat anything, even if they throw away their leftovers immediately, they will be fired immediately, according to a policy in the food packaging warehouse that works in Shiva.
She and her colleagues worked hard and obeyed all the rules for fear of losing a steady temporary job. But she was furious when she found out that her employer had deliberately withheld her two-year salary of nearly $18000.
"I work very hard, usually 50 or 60 hours a week," Shiva said. "when I started working, I thought $22 an hour was OK's. But about six months ago, I found out that my salary should be 33 yuan an hour. That's a big difference! "
She's not the only one. Dozens of employees in her workplace have been significantly reduced, while Martin of (Young Workers Hub), a young workers' center, is not alone. Deloy (Martin De Rooy) says this is a typical wage theft case.
For some companies, squeezing employees is a well-thought-out business model, he said, and bosses are either careful to avoid abiding by the law or don't care at all.
"sustained, systematic withholding of workers' wages may have been intentional," de Roy said. In a workplace, most young people don't know their rights, they don't feel like they have the right to say it, and employers can easily use them. "
"Young employees don't know how to look at payrolls, they don't know if their wages are right, and they don't know if employers have paid a pension."
Shiva was initially afraid to say so because he was afraid of losing his job. But the arrival of the union representative let her slowly make up for her lost salary.
But the damage during the period has been caused. For years, she lived on salary and had to make sacrifices to make a living.
"when my grandmother died, I had to apply for a loan to attend the funeral. She lives on the island, and then I have to try to pay it back. "
Her experience is one of many reports submitted to the Queensland Congressional Committee to investigate wage theft. Supporters of the committee say this is an alarming phenomenon-especially in hotels, retail and warehousing.
The survey has received dozens of submissions, including the withholding of a garbage manager's salary by 35,000 yuan, and a high school student who "tried" at a motel but never received compensation.
Queensland is not the only state to investigate such problems, and the state has promised to impose imprisonment and tougher fines on employers who have done the wrong thing.
State Governor Daniel Andrews (Daniel Andrews) said: "whether you are a convenience store or a star chef, if you deliberately and dishonestly deduct the remuneration of your employees, if you deny or deprive them of what they deserve," You will face a prison sentence. "
Kate, a Brisbane retail worker who didn't give her last name, thinks her boss has spent most of her 18 months at work withholding her salary.
The 18-year-old law student received her payroll only once, but she was entitled to receive it every time.
"I think if I have trouble or let them do something they haven't done, I will lose my job and they have the right to decide whether you have a job or not."
After a year of work, her bank account receives much less money every week without any explanation or warning from her employer.
She said, "I mustered the courage to ask the question. What worries me is that they may have overpaid me, but now they just take it back. In the end, they just say that this is my salary. "
According to her rough calculations, the last money she received was about $16.50 an hour-well below industry pay.
A few months ago, Kate quit when she felt exploited.
"the loss meant a lot to me. I was a student and the job was my only source of income. I'm very dependent on it, and I have to make some big changes. "
In her view, there is no doubt that employers "know the law, but choose not to abide by the law."
In a report to the Kunzhou investigation, the National Retail Association (NRA) blamed most of the "shocking" wage theft cases on complex employment laws.
However, Dominic Lamb (Dominique Lamb), head of the lobby, admitted that some employers had done something wrong.
"in our view, deliberate non-compliance is for the purpose of increasing profitability," the NRA report said. "because labor costs are the most important cost of doing business, retail operators will try to reduce costs."