New employees at the Coco Cubano restaurant franchise were recently told they were to work for free for up to five "training" shifts.

They were sent a letter which said they would be required to go to the Coco Cubano franchise at Macarthur Square, Campbelltown, for the training shifts.

"This training will be unpaid however we will provide transport and a meal for you," the letter to the trainees read.

A list of the available shifts included two where the Wollongong store employees would run the Macarthur Square store on their own.

When the Mercury contacted a representative of the Wollongong franchise on Wednesday, they said the employees would be rewarded with transport and a meal.

However, several hours later, the representative called back to thank the Mercury "for bringing that to our attention" and to state the employees would be paid for their training shifts.

"They are all getting paid and they will be getting paid in the next few days - by the end of this week or the beginning of next week," the representative said.

A spokesman for the Fair Work Ombudsman said not paying employees being trained was unlawful.

"It's the Fair Work Ombudsman's view that employees must be paid for all hours worked, including trial shifts or probation periods, meetings, training and extra time spent opening or closing a business," the spokesman said.

Has your employer ever asked you to undertake unpaid training? Contact the Mercury at cos@illawarramercury.com.au