Lauren Moon worked 24.5 hours over a nine-day period at Fancy Fruits in Thirroul Plaza in May and was paid just $3.26 an hour for her efforts. Miss Moon said she was handed $80 in cash, but instead she should have been paid $330.26 or $13.48 an hour.

The teenager has written to the owners of the business demanding she be paid $250.26 in outstanding wages. She has also lodged a complaint with the Fair Works Ombudsman.

Miss Moon said she had received no response to the letter she sent to Fancy Fruits on May 26.

The owner of Fancy Fruits told the Mercury on Tuesday he had never met Miss Moon and denied he had received a letter.

However Miss Moon's mother Christine Moon said she had approached the employer in May on behalf of her daughter and was allegedly told: "This is what we do, it was training and I will not be paying anything further."

The Fair Work Ombudsman's office has advised Miss Moon that it can not mediate the dispute resolution process because Fancy Fruits does not have a landline telephone number.

It suggested she consider legal action through the small claims process in the Federal Circuit Court or the NSW Chief Industrial Magistrates Court. Fancy Fruits' advertised number has been disconnected.

Miss Moon has since found casual employment at a Wollongong business which pays her almost $16 an hour. She said she was disappointed at the way she had been treated by Fancy Fruits.

"There's not much work around and I thought I had found a job," she said. "There was no job interview, they just put me straight to work. But when they paid me and I questioned the amount they said it was my training fee. I felt like I had wasted my time."

Miss Moon was one of several people who contacted the Mercury after a story last week involving allegations of unpaid training at the Coco Cubano restaurant franchise. After being contacted by the Mercury the company said it would be paying all its workers for training.

National Union of Workers' Mark Ptolemy said it was unlawful to pay a training wage.

"If training is offered to a potential employee relating to their role they should be paid," Mr Ptolemy said. "If any employer asks you to work a free shift, look for a better job. It's just a way for business owners to get three days' work out of some poor kid for nothing or very little. They deserve better."

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