Fair Work Inspectors recovered more than $40 million for 18,000 underpaid employees during the financial year - the highest total recoveries figure in the regulator’s history.
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s 2018-19 Annual Report reveals a significant increase in recovered wages.
While the fashion industry has had a number of underpayment scandals this year, over 50% of litigations involved businesses in the restaurant and cafe sector.
The FWO secured $1.6 million in court penalties against employers in the sector.
In 2018-19, the FWO resolved more than 29,000 workplace disputes between workers and businesses.
There was a record 17.8 million visits to www.fairwork.gov.au to access information and the Fair Work Infoline answered 380,000 calls from workers and employers.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said the agency had strengthened its compliance and enforcement policy.
“In line with our priorities, we will continue our important work educating employers and employees, targeting high-risk industries, protecting vulnerable workers and improving compliance across Australian workplaces in the year ahead,” Parker said.
“We urge employers to actively check they are paying their staff correctly and access our free resources for help. We will take enforcement action against employers who break the law."
Anonymous reports to the FWO increased, with over 16,000 reports received, which included over 1200 reports made in languages other than English. Inspectors conducted more than 2800 workplace audits, strategically targeting sectors at high risk of non-compliance.
More employees and employers accessed the agency’s Pay and Conditions Tool, which assists users in calculating pay rates and other entitlements, with 500,000 calculations each month.