A number of empoyers in Sydney have been accused of cheating backpackers out of wages.

Unscrupulous employers in Sydney have been exposed as cheating Irish backpackers with unpaid ‘trial work’.

Though the practise is illegal, dodgy employers are taking advantage of young people who are desperate for work.

Bosses send the worker, often in Australia on a Working Holiday visa, out on a day’s work as, for instance, a charity collector.

Then, at the end of the day, they are told that not only is there no further work but they are also not going to be paid for the work they have already done.

Sligoman Paul McGovern told the Irish Echo his 22-year-old niece, Niamh, is one of those who have been cheated out of a day’s pay.

“They got her to sign a form on the day saying she wouldn’t be paid for the day,” said Mr McGovern.

“When she told me about this I thought, ‘that’s interesting, they’re putting it in writing that they’re not complying with the legislation’.

“But they didn’t give her a copy of the letter. So I got her to write to them to request payment for the work. If they respond to her letter with the form she signed to say she would not be paid, that will give us something to take to the Industrial Relations Commission,” he said.

The NSW Industrial Relations Commission (IRC) website is very clear on this issue, stating that “Unpaid work trials are illegal”.

The practise of not paying someone by saying it was only trial work is thought to be most common in the area of telesales and door-to-door selling. Charity collectors are also at risk if the collection has been contracted to an outside agency.

Disreputable companies ripping young people off in this way are known to operate in areas such as Bondi Junction in Sydney – a popular destination for Irish backpackers.

“It is, of course, understandable and admirable that young people are prepared to do whatever it takes to ‘bag that job’. But that’s what these unscrupulous employers are taking advantage of,” said Mr McGovern.

“It is also understandable that no single backpacker wants to refuse to undertake an unpaid trial, for fear that they will be seen as ‘difficult’ and the next person in line will get the job,” he said.

Mr McGovern is hoping his niece gets proper financial compensation for her work, if necessary by taking her case to the IRC.

“I’m hoping and praying that the company is stupid enough to send back a copy of the letter she signed,” he said.