If they refuse to play ball, they lose their job and are threatened with deportation. Their names become mud around the network. A new more insidious wage rort is sweeping the nation's biggest convenience chain. Credit:Arsineh Houspian According to one Sydney-based employee the cash is collected outside the store by a representative of the franchisee. The employee said the payslip reflects a payment of $25 or more an hour, which is within the award rate, but the agreed amount between the employee and franchisee is a lesser sum. The scam is sweeping the country, with numerous workers discussing variations on the "cash scam" theme.

For instance, a permanent resident might pay back a smaller amount than a worker on a student visa who is only allowed to work 20 hours a week under the visa conditions. As one store manager says: "Imagine working for $12 an hour and being taxed for $20 an hour or more. I didn't think they could get more odious but I was wrong." Pranay Alawala, a former 7-Eleven worker in Brisbane who recently confronted his boss to pay back more than $40,000 to himself and a few other workers, said he had been contacted by many workers who have got caught up in the "cash scam". Text messages between a franchisee and a 7-Eleven employee from a Brisbane store leave no doubt that this new fraud is widespread. The "half pay scam" morphed into its new abomination last month when head office became aware that ABC's Four Corners and Fairfax Media were investigating wage fraud and started trying to cover itself by cracking down on payroll compliance, including making sure franchisees had their bookwork "correct".

If they refuse to play ball, they lose their job and are threatened with deportation. Between July and August head office audited 225 stores and found 69 per cent had payroll compliance issues including gross underpayment of staff, falsification of payroll records and in at least one case a franchisee holding the passport and drivers licence of an employee without their permission. Consumer advocate Michael Fraser has been in contact with many workers and says the latest scam is evidence that 7-Eleven franchisees are highly organised from the top down and quickly adapt to anything interfering with their wage model. "Now that they are expected to pay the correct wages – at least while the media is watching – they have had to adapt," he said. He said he had been contacted by text, email and on the phone by concerned staff from every state that 7-Eleven operate in that are now having to pay back half of their wages. Mr Fraser is advising them to keep a personal diary at home with all hours worked, how much they were paid and how much they were told to pay back.

If there is any money withdrawn from an ATM, he is telling them to keep the receipt with the diary. The new scam will be difficult to prove and could be an additional challenge for the independent panel that has been set up by 7-Eleven to investigate underpayment of wages. The panel, headed by former ACCC chairman Allan Fels, a fierce critic of the 7-Eleven franchise model, will kick off this week. Mr Fels hit the headlines a week ago when he said "the only way a franchisee can make a go of it in most cases is by underpaying wages, by illegal behaviour." Workers are invited to come forward if they have been underpaid and the panel will assess their claims, but the success or otherwise of the panel will depend on whether they are given amnesty by the Abbott government and whether the onus is on the worker to prove their case, or the franchisee and 7-Eleven head office.

Remember, most of the payroll records and rosters have been falsified, other documents shredded and many workers have been getting paid in cash, which would make it almost impossible for most workers to prove their case. That's assuming they get amnesty and can therefore come forward without the threat of deportation. With the Abbott Government admitting it is "considering" an amnesty, here's hoping.