Is your café, restaurant or takeaway on the ATO's radar?
If you run a food business, a joint operation by two of Australia's most powerful regulators should put you on high alert and prompt a review of how you're managing your obligations.
What happened?
Gold Coast fast food outlets, restaurants and cafés have received surprise visits from the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) and the ATO.
Operation Crimson involved the two regulators inspecting about 25 eateries in Nerang and surrounding suburbs to check they are paying employees correctly and complying with record-keeping, tax and super laws.
The targeted inspections were based on factors such as:
Anonymous reports to the FWO from employees
A history of non-compliance
Employment of vulnerable workers such as visa holders
For the FWO, Operation Crimson is part of its national Food Precincts Program of surprise inspections of fast food outlets, restaurants and cafés, commonly in "cheap eats" precincts.
Why does this matter?
The track record in this sector is concerning.
The FWO previously recovered more than $215,700 in wages for nearly 450 underpaid workers after auditing 50 Gold Coast eateries in 2020, with 88% of those businesses found non-compliant with workplace laws.
The FWO secured more than $16 million in court-ordered penalties against employers in the fast food, restaurants and cafés sector nationally in 2024–2025.
These penalties included the FWO's largest-ever penalty of $15.3 million against the former operators of Sushi Bay outlets, for deliberately exploiting vulnerable migrant workers.
The ATO has made clear it’s not just watching – it is acting. The ATO uses "a range of sophisticated methods to detect shadow economy activities" and works closely with partner agencies like the FWO, regularly sharing intelligence and community tip-offs.
What’s on the radar?
Food businesses that employ young workers need to take particular care in two key areas.
Pay rates
Most awards and enterprise agreements include specific minimum wages for juniors (workers under 21), based on their age.
Under the Fast Food Award, junior rates range from 40% of the adult rate for employees aged under 16, up to 90% for 20-year-olds.
Juniors who serve or sell alcohol must be paid the adult rate regardless of age.
Superannuation
You must pay the superannuation guarantee on payments you make to an employee under 18 years old if they work more than 30 hours in a week, regardless of how much you pay them.
This is based on actual hours that week, not averaged across a pay period. A young worker doing a big week of shifts could trigger a super obligation even if other weeks do not.
Also, timing should be front of mind: payday super applies from 1 July 2026, meaning super needs to be in employees’ funds within seven business days of payday.
What should I do now?
If you employ staff in a café, restaurant or takeaway, check that you are:
Paying the correct award rates, including the right junior rates based on each employee's age
Tracking actual hours worked each week for employees under 18 to determine whether super is owed that week
Meeting your superannuation obligations for all eligible employees
Keeping accurate records of time worked, rosters and payslips
Correctly classifying employees under the right award
You can use the FWO's Pay and Conditions Tool to calculate minimum pay rates – visit www.fairwork.gov.au for more on junior pay rates.
For super eligibility, visit www.ato.gov.au and search for “super for employers”.
Need help?
Employment obligations in the food sector are complex, and getting them wrong can be costly.
Contact our office today to review your payroll, record-keeping and superannuation compliance before a regulator does it for you.