topic Re: Wage theft in Community Spirit

Wage theft

marwi_3023 — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 06:34:55 GMT

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-16/wage-theft-report/10505412

It isn't just the hospitality industry.
I had about $30000 stolen from me by a private school when I was a boarding house master.
They didn't even pay the teachers properly.

Re: Wage theft

go-tazz — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 09:30:34 GMT

It all has a knock on affect in that the employees aren't getting paid correctly so they don't have that extra money

too spend and the whole economy suffers,(similar too how penalty rates will drop for Retail,Pharmacy,Hospitality

and Fast food industries so that their bosses can make more money and put it in the bank,so no benefit to the

economy).

Those low income earners will have to find more money for mortgages and such and will spend less so a big

loss of revenue for the economy,(probably all brought about by a polly not being able to get a coffee or

sandwich on a Sunday and they feel entitled to having one when they want one).

Re: Wage theft

chameleon54 — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 13:49:36 GMT

Our teenage son has worked in the hospitality industry since leaving school. " Wage theft " is absolutely rife in the industry, particularly for young people, but it is a symptom of a much larger problem.

Australias wages are simply too high, particularly when penalty rates for weekend work and all the other mandated " extras " such as sick leave, stress leave, superannuation, maternity leave, parental leave, bereavement leave, holiday pay with extra loading ( whats that all about ???? ), rostered days off, time off for union meetings, Christmas parties, Melbourne cup luncheons, office coffee mornings for cancer research, long weekends and long service leave are taken into account. Frankly with all of this " leave", its a real occasion when some workers actually turn up for work at all.

Our 18 YO son was earning up to $38 an hour on normal weekends as a barman in a country pub. Many small business employers simply cant afford to pay the high wages, high rents, high insurance costs, and high utilities costs. and still stay in business. While I dont condone wage theft, I appreciate that if wages and conditions where more realistic and commesurate with the input the employee actually provides to the business, it would not be such a widespread problem.

Re: Wage theft

marwi_3023 — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 18:35:22 GMT

If a business can't afford to pay wages then don't employ people.
Employees make the money.
Funny how a few of these millionaaire celebrity chefs have been caught up in the wage theft scandal.
You can't tell me they can't afford to pay correct wages

Re: Wage theft

lyndal1838 — Sat, 17 Nov 2018 01:11:42 GMT

So what is your solution to businesses that do not employ anyone but the husband and wife owners and the husband works 13-14 hours a day, 5 days a week.

Re: Wage theft

marwi_3023 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 00:02:57 GMT

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-19/underpaid-workers-call-bosses-to-be-jailed-victoria/10505482

Re: Wage theft

lyhargr_0 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 00:11:03 GMT

@lyndal1838 wrote:
So what is your solution to businesses that do not employ anyone but the husband and wife owners and the husband works 13-14 hours a day, 5 days a week.

If he is forced to work those hours in order to make a living, then clearly something isnt right within the business, perhaps a good overhaul is needed

Re: Wage theft

chameleon54 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 00:37:51 GMT

@lyhargr_0 wrote:
@lyndal1838 wrote:
So what is your solution to businesses that do not employ anyone but the husband and wife owners and the husband works 13-14 hours a day, 5 days a week.
If he is forced to work those hours in order to make a living, then clearly something isnt right within the business, perhaps a good overhaul is needed

Despite what many employees think, not all bosses are greedy millionaires, making a fortune from the sweat of their workers. There are a huge number of small businesses owners, battling to provide a basic living for their families, often paying their workers more than the boss takes home in pay each week.

The courier business that Lyndals husband works in, is notoriously competative, with sub contractors operating on wafer thin margins after paying lease on vehicles, fuel, and other running costs. And all to provide the consumer with the cheapest freight on their latest electronic gizmo or toy for the kids.

Often small business owners are like me, older people who the labor market simply wont employ, regardless of the skills or experience we have to offer. In other cases, small business owners simply like the freedom to think and act without having to have ideas presented to a meeting to be discussed and deferred to the next meeting when a feasability study will be discussed to decide wether to go to the next step and commision a full study on the pros and cons of buying a new coffee machine for the staff room.

Yes I did work as a public servent for many years...........

Re: Wage theft

lyhargr_0 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 00:46:22 GMT

@chameleon54 wrote:
@lyhargr_0 wrote:
@lyndal1838 wrote:
So what is your solution to businesses that do not employ anyone but the husband and wife owners and the husband works 13-14 hours a day, 5 days a week.
If he is forced to work those hours in order to make a living, then clearly something isnt right within the business, perhaps a good overhaul is needed
Despite what many employees think, not all bosses are greedy millionaires, making a fortune from the sweat of their workers. There are a huge number of small businesses owners, battling to provide a basic living for their families, often paying their workers more than the boss takes home in pay each week.

The courier business that Lyndals husband works in, is notoriously competative, with sub contractors operating on wafer thin margins after paying lease on vehicles, fuel, and other running costs. And all to provide the consumer with the cheapest freight on their latest electronic gizmo or toy for the kids.

Often small business owners are like me, older people who the labor market simply wont employ, regardless of the skills or experience we have to offer. In other cases, small business owners simply like the freedom to think and act without having to have ideas presented to a meeting to be discussed and deferred to the next meeting when a feasability study will be discussed to decide wether to go to the next step and commision a full study on the pros and cons of buying a new coffee machine for the staff room.
Yes I did work as a public servent for many years...........

I'm fully aware of the pitfalls of running a small ( successful) business .....

Re: Wage theft

chameleon54 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 01:35:04 GMT

Another reason many of us choose to run small businesses, is that we have signifigant injuries / health problems that prevent us from seeking " normal " jobs.

In my case I have three ruptured discs in my back. I was told at age 30 that I should stop work immediately and go on the invalid pension. Rather than take the easy option of living off of the taxpayer for the rest of my life as so many others do, I chose to remain active and continue working. Twenty five years later and I am still providing for my family and hope to continue to do so until retirment age. Sure it hasnt always been easy or pain free.

For many years I had to notify the neighbours that if they heard me crying out in agony I wasnt being murdered, I just had excrutiating nerve pain from my damaged back. And yes they had heard me. Luckily the nerves are now so badly damaged that they no longer send pain signals. .

By continuing to work in self employment, I have the satisfaction of knowing I am contributing to society and are probably living a much more fulfilling and interesting life than I would have had, taking the easy option of welfare.

Re: Wage theft

lyhargr_0 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 01:39:11 GMT

And you are still able to bend over and shear sheep ..... amazing lol

Re: Wage theft

chameleon54 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 02:08:55 GMT

@lyhargr_0 wrote:
And you are still able to bend over and shear sheep ..... amazing lol

As much as I would like to, I can no longer shear any number of sheep. Although, I can still shear quickly enough, I get a contractor in to do all my shearing now. I only do the occasional sheep to help some-one out. But thanks for your concern anyway........

Re: Wage theft

lyhargr_0 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 03:10:10 GMT

Well of course I was concerned ...... for the sheep that is 🙂

Re: Wage theft

lyndal1838 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 10:55:17 GMT

@lyhargr_0 wrote:
@lyndal1838 wrote:
So what is your solution to businesses that do not employ anyone but the husband and wife owners and the husband works 13-14 hours a day, 5 days a week.
If he is forced to work those hours in order to make a living, then clearly something isnt right within the business, perhaps a good overhaul is needed

You are correct that something is not right, but it is not within our business. My husband is a StarTrack subcontractor and there is plenty wrong with the way Australia Post treats their contractors, especially those who are paid by the number of parcels delivered.

My husband is on hourly hire with a run in the CBD so does not have huge fuel costs for a start.

He is not forced to work the hours he does.he chooses to do so and he actually brings home a very good amount of money.....until you take into account the expense of compliance with government rules.

I have just paid the ATO $3000 or approximately a quarter of the company income for a months worth of Tax and GST....being a Service industry we have very minimal GST credits. It takes roughly a day and a half worth of income to cover statutory requirements, the necessary insurances and general running costs. It is considerably more expensive to register and insure a business vehicle than a family sedan.

At the end of the day we get approximately a third of the company income in our pockets for our own use.

Re: Wage theft

marwi_3023 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 19:29:23 GMT

In Victoria it costs considerably less to register a commercial vehicle than a family sedan and my insurance was the same as my sedan.
I do live in the country and I believe both would be more expensive in say Melbourne but my understanding is that the increase is the same for a commercial vehicle as a family sedan.
I might be wrong but I believe that Victoria has the cheapest vehicle registration charges in Australia

Re: Wage theft

lyndal1838 — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 20:42:18 GMT

It certainly sounds like Victoria has cheaper registration than NSW although I do know that registration in rural areas is much cheaper than in Sydney, where we live.

When my two daughters lived in Sydney they had similar cars and paid similar registration and insurance. When one girl moved to a rural city her costs almost halved.

Re: Wage theft

springyzone — Mon, 19 Nov 2018 23:56:24 GMT

@chameleon54 wrote

Often small business owners are like me, older people who the labor market simply wont employ, regardless of the skills or experience we have to offer. In other cases, small business owners simply like the freedom to think and act without having to have ideas presented to a meeting to be discussed and deferred to the next meeting when a feasability study will be discussed to decide wether to go to the next step and commision a full study on the pros and cons of buying a new coffee machine for the staff room.
Yes I did work as a public servent for many years...........

I don't know about the public service but I used to work in a government job, as a teacher. While the government did make a staff room allowance for things such as a fridge, tables, chairs etc, we always paid for our own coffee/tea supplies and for detergent for the dishwasher. Even those who didn't drink tea or coffee paid a small amount each term to pay for their use of glassware, dishwasher tablets etc. We also were paying for any visitors to the school who were invited in and able to make themselves a coffee etc.

On report nights where we stayed late (or later than usual, probably till about 8.30-9pm) there was no way the Principal was able to claim a meal allowance of any kind for us. I forget exactly how it worked but if he had tried, it would have meant a very heavy tax. He actually got around it by putting it down as something else and shouting us some pizzas to share, which was appreciated.

I guess what I am saying is not every job has the same perks.

Most jobs have some, even when you just consider small things like using someone else's electricity, toilet, toilet paper etc

It costs money to run a business. Having said that, most people who run their own business are able to make tax claims the ordinary PAYE employee could only dream of. That doesn't mean that all self employed people are having it easy though. It is like those in government employment I guess-those in top businesses are doing fine while for the average person trying to run a small business, it is often a struggle.

All that I do know is things seem a bit skewed to me, when you have some CEOs of companies being paid several million each year even if the companies aren't doing so well, while you have people at the other end of the scale sometimes having their wages or conditions slashed. I don't have the answers, uinfortunately. Just know there has to be a balance.