An investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman has recovered more than $25,000 in unpaid wages for stadium cleaners around the country, including at Canberra Stadium.
The investigation revealed seven cleaning companies across major stadiums in Canberra, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane had not been compliant with workplace laws during surprise visits in September and October 2019.
While stadium operators were not in breach of the laws themselves, the FWO found sub-contracted companies responsible for cleaning the venues had not been compliant.
The regulator recovered $114 in unpaid wages for two workers from a cleaning company contracted at Canberra Stadium. While the bill for Canberra's stadium cleaners was relatively minimal, $20,961 was recovered for 139 workers at Sydney's ANZ Stadium.
It also recovered $4216 for 129 workers employed with a cleaning company that serviced both Adelaide Oval and Brisbane's The Gabba.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said stadium operators needed to be more involved to ensure sub-contracted workers were being fairly paid.
"The FWO's investigations identified opportunities for stadium operators, as heads of supply chains, to increase their level of involvement in how cleaning contractors operated," Ms Parker said in a media release.
"We expect all cleaning employers to comply with workplace laws. The heads of all supply chains should be aware that they can be held responsible if they are found to be involved in any breaches by their contractors. Any workers with concerns about their pay should contact us."
The FWO recommended that stadium operators should review existing contracts and implement stronger governance to ensure sub-contractors were complying with workplace laws in their jurisdiction.
The initial audits were held after Round 25 NRL matches in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. It had been concerned that stadium cleaning contractors had not been paying overtime and annual leave to their staff.
"Fair Work inspectors visited ANZ Stadium, AAMI Park and GIO Stadium last week due to concerns about sham contracting, where employers misclassify workers as independent contractors to avoid paying entitlements like overtime and annual leave," Ms Parker said in September 2019.
"Fair Work Inspectors will now analyse the evidence they have gathered to check if the cleaning contractors are meeting their lawful obligations under Australia's workplace laws. If we identify non-compliance, our first priority will be arranging back-pay for affected workers and we will then consider our compliance and enforcement options.
"Sham contracting is a widespread problem in the contract cleaning industry. We will take strong action if companies are avoiding their lawful obligations to their workers by asking them to register as independent contractors instead of paying them as employees and providing them leave and other entitlements under the Cleaning Services Award 2010."
The Canberra Times has contacted Canberra Stadium for response.
