A new government enforcement branch labelled “The Black Economy Taskforce” has been established to tackle industries still paying cash or “under the table” to get around minimum wage, worker protections, or tax requirements.
Aside from risk to workers and tax evasion, those evading the system also gain an unfair advantage against many other small businesses who may be struggling to stay competitive whilst trying to do the right thing.
Believe it or not, many restaurants and cafes still operate with these cash in hand principles, undermining the work that the rest of the industry has been doing to be transparent, compliant, and fair, and build a healthy industry future for our workers and our businesses.
This is just the latest in a series of moves designed to ‘clean up’ the Australian hospitality industry, following a number of high profile cases involving some iconic industry names. The message between these recent prosecutions and establishment of the Black Economy Taskforce is clear – where your business is large or small, tax evasion and staff underpayment or mistreatment is being treated with a hardline approach and will not be tolerated.
The final report from the taskforce is expected in October 2017.