Claims by Ballarat Trades Hall that almost half of young people in Ballarat are underpaid definitely deserves investigation. While the figure probably comes with its own complexities and variations and may not be so numerous, the cases The Courier has heard are reprehensible. Some amount to extreme exploitation where the desperation of young workers to earn a living has driven them into the hands of unscrupulous employers. These same employers see low paid and often young workers as a sort of limitless low-grade commodity. The ease with which they feel they can ditch one disgruntled employee with another means they have the coercion to keep them quiet and compliant.
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But those who are guilty of cash payments have good reason to be worried by a Senate inquiry. Quite apart from the interest the taxation office will have in such cases, the possibility of confidential submissions means many young people trapped by circumstance may at last speak out.
There are legitimate arguments made by small businesses that paying staff is an excessively large part of their outgoing costs. Whether this centres around the penalties issue or the more fraught issue of individual enterprise agreements it is a debate worth having with potential appropriate solutions. But survival in business cannot be an excuse for breaking the law. Moreover in the worst extremities of a black economy we know that workers are not only underpaid, missing the benefits of loading, leave and superannuation but they are at considerable risk when it comes to workplace injury and sick leave.
There is also a bigger picture issue at stake here. Hospitality is one industry where this has been repeatedly raised as an issue. Ballarat hospitality is undergoing a revolution that in little more than five short years has seen it go from a parma-and-pot backwater to metropolitan standard coffee, produce and variety. But underpinning the long-term success of all hospitality is the quality of its service. Low skilled, underpaid students may sustain a bland franchise aimed at high turnover but the gourmet industry demands an extra level of skill and professionalism and that should be remunerated in a commensurate manner. Only by developing this level of professionalism and paying appropriately can you hope to develop the concept of hospitality careers; a lifetime job of increasing expertise and passion rather than as some stop-gap drudge. This is how an industry and each individual business will thrive in the long term.
