Teenager questions pay rate at noodle shop

By Callan Date
A BERWICK teenager being paid five dollars an hour said he was told to look for another job after questioning his rate of pay.
But the shop’s owners deny they have short changed Corey and said he was paid the proper rate.
Corey Bellchambers, 16, worked casually at Berwick Yummy Noodle for just over a month and said he was served up a range of reasons as to why he was on the disputed pay rate.
Corey’s mother, Sam Augustin, said her son’s former employer owed him almost $300 before he left the job two weeks ago.
Ms Augustin said a Wage Line official confirmed the minimum hourly wage for the type of job being performed by Corey should be $9.53.
“It’s basically slave labour. He is a hard working kid for a 16-year-old and he was getting ripped off,” Ms Augustin said.
The concerned parent said she had spoken to the owner of the Main Street shop on several occasions but all conversations proved futile.
“At first they told us the $5 was a training wage but it never changed,” she said.
Berwick Yummy Noodle owner Shirley Xra said insufficient paperwork was a major reason why Corey was not paid the money he thought he was entitled to.
“He didn’t fill in all the forms,” Ms Xra said. And Ms Xra said Corey was also classified as a part-time employee – not casual.
“The part-time rate is less than casual rate,” she said.
Ms Augustin has taken her complaint to the Australian Government Office of Workplace Services and has been told to file the appropriate forms.
Corey has since picked up a butchering apprenticeship and is looking to move on to the next stage of his working life.
However, Ms Augustin said the whole experience had left her frustrated.
“I’m trying to teach my children to be responsible and hard working and then something like this happens.
“It’s tough,” she said.