An investigation by the University of Queensland’s student newspaper Semper Floreat has revealed that the food outlet Indian Feast at the university’s St Lucia campus has been underpaying their employees, and the university was aware of this.
A payslip envelope revealed to Semper by a former employee suggested that employees receive at least a part of their wages through cash payments and that hourly rates could be as little as $10 per hour.
The employer at Indian Feast claimed that the rate paid was after a 50% cut due to the former employee not providing their tax file number upon request, but upon further investigation, it was revealed that employees were unsure of what tax file numbers are and had not been asked to provide them.
The university’s Director of Property and Facilities states that Indian Feast’s obligations to the License to Occupy have been met and that UQ has no legal authority to investigate this matter.