![Shopping centres: Under investigation from the Fair Work Ombudsman. [Image: Wendell Levi Tedoro @ Zeduce.org.]](http://yaffa-cdn.s3.amazonaws.com/ragtrader/images/dmImage/StandardImage/Wendell - IP - mid1.jpg)
Major shopping centres are under investigation over allegations they are exploiting international students working as cleaners.
The fresh allegations, spearheaded by workers union United Voice, has prompted the Fair Work Ombudsman to commence inquiries into the claims, from today.
The agency just last month announced that it had recovered almost $70,000 for 53 cleaners employed by CleanDomain Pty Ltd at Sydney’s Westfield shopping complex.
The process will involve the Fair Work Ombudsman making contact with relevant parties, including United Voice, to seek details surrounding the matter.
In addition, the agency has encouraged key stakeholders with intelligence about non-compliance with workplace laws to come forward with any relevant information.
Any employee who is concerned they have been treated unfairly has also been advised to contact the Fair Work Infoline.
Commenting on the investigation, the Fair Work Ombudsman also said it was particularly concerned by statements attributed to the Shopping Centre Council of Australia that the allegations are a matter for cleaning contractors, not the centres themselves.
In response, it said business operators must be aware that they risk breaching workplace laws if their contracting practices result in the employees of the contractors they engage later being underpaid their minimum entitlements.
It also issued a warning to business operators and said that any company which withholds actual or inferred knowledge to such underpayments occurring would also risk breaching workplace laws.
Cleaning services is a regular focus of the Fair Work Ombudsman’s education and compliance activities.
In the past two years, the Fair Work Ombudsman has recovered hundreds of thousands of dollars for underpaid cleaners, many of them foreign workers.