The boss of a 7-Eleven store in Brisbane is allegedly forcing employees to pay back thousands of dollars of their own pay or face losing their jobs.

‘(I) take the cash out of the ATM and hand it back’

In hidden camera footage, obtained by the ABC, a staff member inside a 7-Eleven store can be seen withdrawing large amounts of cash before walking through a secure door and handing the money to a man believed to be her boss.

The woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said her boss claims they can’t afford to pay “the government rate” and needed workers to “give some of the money back”.

The employee, an international student living and studying in Australia, said giving back a portion of her wage is the only way she knows how to keep her job.

“(The franchisees) say agree to paying back the money. If not, you can go find another job. Everyone at the shop has to do it,” she said.

The ABC filmed the woman handing back cash on two occasions, with her boss accepting $150 in cash at one time. She claims she is forced to hand back an estimated $11 for every hour worked.

She said “government pay” is $25 per hour for casual workers and she gets $14 per hour.

“Every week I pay (back), because they pay me every week. (I) take the cash out of the ATM and hand it back”.

The “cash back” scam is a familiar practice within the industry, with workers paid in full but then forced to hand half their pay to the store owner, the ABC reports.

A 7-Eleven spokesman told the ABC it “takes any allegation of illegal activity in our franchisee network".

"We are not aware of any allegations relating to this store, and no staff members have raised any concerns with us. As soon as the allegations were raised with us we commenced an internal investigation," he said.

A spokesman for the Fair Work Ombudsman said: "The Fair Work Ombudsman is concerned about the use of 'cash-back' arrangements we are seeing in some 7-Eleven cases.”

A joint investigation by Four Corners and Fairfax Media exposed systemic wage fraud and the underpayment of 7-Eleven workers last year.



Do you know more? Email Kate Kachor at kkachor@nine.com.au