Service industry workers were prominent among the Canberra employees most likely to have been paid at less than award rates last financial year.
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The Australian Government's Fair Work Ombudsman has reported that 224 ACT workers received $384,000 in back-pay last year.
While a wide range of employees had been assisted, hairdressers, hotel workers and waiters were among those most likely to have been short-changed.
But University of Canberra's Centre for Labour Market Research director Professor Phil Lewis said Canberrans who had sought help through the Fair Work Ombudsman probably represented only a portion of those who were earning below minimum wage or who were missing out on superannuation and other benefits.
Professor Lewis said Canberra's wealth had spawned a large service industry, which lent itself to ''non-standard'' work arrangements.
''There's a whole bag of people in that group, from students from fairly well-off homes, to sole parents, to people on benefits who may be grateful for the job,'' Professor Lewis said.
While there were some people who were clearly being exploited, others knowingly worked cash-in-hand jobs because it benefited them as well as their employer.
Forty-four per cent of complaints to the Fair Work Ombudsman in the ACT were resolved voluntarily, without the need formal investigation.