Former employees of Gloria Jeans Corrimal claim to be owed tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid superannuation and allege they were paid late and in some instances had JobKeeper payments withheld.
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The Mercury has spoken with more than half-a-dozen former employees, all of whom say they were never paid their full superannuation entitlement.
Each also raised concerns about how and when they were paid, with delays frequently cited and issues with incorrect amounts paid.
The franchisee, Karolina Gjorsevski, denies that superannuation was withheld and said delayed payments were quickly rectified.
Jason Baxter, who worked at the Corrimal cafe for three years, filed a query with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and in a letter, seen by the Mercury, the tax office found Mr Baxter was owed over $7000 in super between September 2019 and September 2022.
Mr Baxter believes the full amount would be higher, as this does not cover the entire period he worked at the cafe and when he started to pick up more shifts in 2023.
The Mercury has seen letters to other employees from the ATO that have found similar outstanding debts owed by the cafe.
A search of Mr Baxter's super contributions via the ATO in April 2024 shows a single super contribution from his employer of three years of $108.55 in 2020.
This is despite super amounts calculated on each payslip.
Employees also described having to consistently chase up incorrect pay.
"Pay was meant to be on Wednesdays and we'd be lucky to get it by Sunday," former employee Leith Turner said.
It is a similar story for Montana Ambrose, who finished at the cafe a month ago. Ms Ambrose estimates she is owed between $800 to $1000 in unpaid superannuation and also had to chase up late or incorrect pay.
"It was ridiculous, I needed to pay rent, I needed money to buy food and to live, and to beg for that was ridiculous."
Ricki-Lee Wardle also worked at the Corrimal cafe for three years and estimates she missed out on $8000 in super.
"I've chased it up through the ATO and I've had multiple debt claims, but nothing's come of it yet," she said.
Without money going into her account, the account fees ate up what little was left.
"I'm now 27 years old and I have nothing in my super account."
Investigation underway
When contacted by the Mercury, Ms Gjorsevski said that she was looking into any discrepancies and seeking to address those.
Ms Gjorsevski acknowledged that she had been contacted by the ATO, but did not know why the alleged underpayments had occurred.
The ATO declined to comment on specific underpayments, due to privacy laws, but said employers who do not pay their workers' super can face fines or have their business wound up by the tax office.
"Employers in general are required to pay superannuation for their eligible employees in full, on time and to the correct fund," a spokesperson for the ATO said.
"If an employer doesn't meet these obligations, they become liable for the superannuation guarantee charge (SGC) and must lodge an SGC statement and pay the SGC to the ATO."
Having not seen deposits into his super account, when an employee from the Gloria Jeans parent company Retail Food Group attended the store, Mr Baxter raised the issue of unpaid super.
"He said he would raise it and they would do an audit."
Mr Baxter said he never heard anything further.
A spokesperson for Retail Food Group said all team members are entitled to fair wages, consistent with their Award.
"We also maintain a wage compliance audit process designed to assist franchise partners with their obligations as employers," the spokesperson said.
"We regularly conduct wage compliance audits that have acted to improve compliance within our network and return lost wages to team members where identified.
"We are committed to ensuring compliance within our network and where non-compliance is identified will act accordingly."
JobKeeper
The Mercury has also heard from employees who say they did not receive the full amount they were entitled to in JobKeeper.
Launched as the first COVID wave locked down the country, the scheme entitled employees and long-term casual workers to $1500 a fortnight, no matter how much they were paid previously or hours worked.
The wage subsidy was paid to employers, who were required to pass on the full amount to their staff. If a staff member would otherwise be paid more than $1500 a fortnight, employers would need to top up their wage.
The Mercury is aware of at least two employees who claim they did not receive this payment.
When asked about this, Ms Gjorsevski produced photos of bank statements that showed payments made to employees labelled JobKeeper, however these did not appear to show the full amount of $1500 and were dated prior to when the scheme tapered off in September 2020.
Overall, the employees that the Mercury spoke to described the workplace as inconsistent, with delays to supplier shipments and broken fixtures and appliances.
Lawyer Kristian Bolwell, who represented Wollongong restaurant workers Syed Haider and Midhun Basi, who were awarded $100,000 each after a Federal Court found they were systematically ripped off by their employer, said recent legal changes opened the way for workers to sue their employer if they are not paid their correct super entitlements.
"If an employer is found to have not paid superannuation they are liable to significant fines for not doing so. Fines are now nearly $3 million for companies and in some circumstances up to 10 years in prison for individuals," Mr Bolwell said.
"Employers are advised to take their obligations to pay staff their lawful entitlements very seriously or be prepared for long sleepless nights and worse by getting stern letters from law firms like ours."
Living out of home and relying on the job to pay his rent while studying, Mr Baxter said it was a constant struggle.
"It was very, very frustrating."
