Australian fashion and accessory retailers have been put on notice by the workplace watchdog.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is pursuing retailers after a number of chains were found to be contravening federal workplace laws.
Under the General Retail Industry Award 2010, an employer who requires an employee to wear special clothing must reimburse the cost of the clothing.
Full-time employees must also receive an allowance of $6.25 per week for uniforms or special clothing which requires laundering.
Part-time or casual employees must receive a $1.25 launder allowance per shift.
The warning comes after a series of retailers were found guilty for not reimbursing staff for clothing required on the shop floor.
The Fair Work Ombudsman selected eight popular-name brands for site visits in Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart and Wagga (in regional NSW).
A number of retail outlets were asked to reimburse employees a total of $12,400 after failing to reimburse staff for work attire.
In Victoria, inspectors visited sites at Doncaster, Chadstone, Highpoint and Melbourne Central shopping centres, as well as some in the CBD.
In Queensland, they went to the Chermside shopping centre, in Tasmania they were in the Hobart CBD and at Wagga in the CBD.
Fair Work inspectors are now working collaboratively with retailers to advise them on obligations.
Retailers can visit www.fairwork.gov.au/retail for full information on workplace laws relating to the retail sector.
Further visits to retail stores across the country have started to assess compliance across the industry.