Fast food restaurants and cafes across Brisbane have been underpaying workers and the Fair Work Ombudsman has recovered more than $400,000 in wages. 

Of the 77 businesses inspected across South Brisbane, Fortitude Valley, Sunnybank, and the CBD, 75 per cent had breached workplace laws. 

"It's disappointing," Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said.

"We target businesses we are pretty confident will be non-compliant through anonymous reports from workers and from our own intelligence."

The crackdown is part of a national program targeting food precincts across the country, which has recovered more than $2 million.

The largest amount paid by a Brisbane business was $80,258.

That related to 68 full and part-time employees.

Ms Parker said the most common breaches were failure to pay penalty rates or casual loading and underpayment of the minimum hourly rate.

"If the employer admits it was a mistake and pays the money back there is no issue — we just check it has been paid," she said.

Ms Parker said there were often clear signs when a breach was deliberate.

"The employer might not give out payslips, they have two sets of books, or they tell a worker to keep their pay a secret," she said.

Earlier this year, a Brisbane sushi restaurant was fined $355,000 for underpaying dozens of staff and falsifying records.

"Employers can't pick and choose the laws they follow," Ms Parker said.

'Normalised and systemic'

Associate Professor Richard Robinson from the University of Queensland Business School surveyed almost 400 hospitality workers earlier this year.

He wanted to understand how their work experiences aligned with the five Fair Work principles: Contracts, pay, working conditions, management, and representation.

"The results exposed deep cultural issues in the hospitality industry, with poor behaviours and practices that have become normalised and systemic," Dr Robinson said.

Pay and contracts were among the concerns raised.

Almost 20 per cent of respondents said they had not received minimum pay rates or were unsure whether they were paid fairly.

"One apprentice we spoke to told us he had not been paid for six weeks," Dr Robinson said.

"When he confronted his employer, they told him he had not been paid because they hadn't made enough money."

Dr Robinson also said there were structural issues in the sector.

"There are low entry barriers into the hospitality industry and, with no strict accreditation standards, many businesses are perpetually operating in the red," he said.

What are your rights?

Fast food restaurants and cafes were considered high risk for workplace breaches for a range of reasons, according to Ms Parker.

Workers were often young and low-paid and businesses often had a high staff turnover.

Migrants without strong English skills who may be unaware of their rights and entitlements were also vulnerable.

"We advise people to first look at our website and check what your entitlements should be," Ms Parker said.

"If something doesn't look right, you can phone us or contact via the website."

All the employers implicated in this latest round of breaches have paid workers their entitlements.

The Fair Work Ombudsman allows businesses to remain anonymous if the fines are paid and the case stays of out court.

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