MOST Canberra restaurants have breached workplace laws and almost half are underpaying their employees, an audit by the Fair Work Ombudsman has revealed. 

Inspectors audited 179 restaurants across the capital, in an extensive education and compliance campaign conducted over the past year.

One hundred and five businesses (59 per cent) were found to be breaching workplace laws, while 74 businesses (41 per cent) were compliant with workplace laws.

Of the restaurants breaching workplace laws, 50 (48 per cent) were not paying employees the correct wages; 34 (32 per cent) had technical contraventions around record-keeping or payslips and 21 (20 per cent) had both wage and technical contraventions.

As a result of the audit, 482 workers received a total of $279,756 in repayment fees.

Acting Fair Work Ombudsman, Michael Campbell, says the campaign was sparked by the high number of complaints from staff working in Canberra restaurants.

“We receive a constant stream of complaints from employees in restaurants and cafes in the capital and have found a high level of non-compliance with workplace laws,” Mr Campbell says.

“Given that, we decided an extensive, targeted campaign was necessary, with a focus on identifying underpayments and educating employers about how they can ensure they meet their obligations to employees.”

Mr Campbell says while he is extremely concerned by the high level of breaches of workplace laws, it is positive that in all cases employers have rectified underpayments and taken advice from Fair Work Inspectors about processes they need to put in place to ensure they get things right in the future.

“A key focus of these campaigns is to work with employers and steer them to tools and resources that we have freely available on our website so they can check that they are meeting their obligations,” Mr Campbell said.

“Earlier this year a former restaurant operator in Canberra was personally fined more than $16,000 for underpaying staff.”

An investigation into one business is continuing.