Melbourne cafe workers back paid $25k

More than two dozen workers at inner Melbourne cafes have been back paid almost $25,000 following inspections by workplace inspectors.

Cafe Touchwood Pty Ltd, trading as Cafe Touchwood in Richmond, and Cafecino Enterprise Pty Ltd, trading as A Minor Place cafe in Brunswick, were found to have paid 26 workers unlawfully low rates.

The workers, most of whom are 25 or under, have been back paid $24,947.

Fair Work Inspectors found the companies each paid unlawfully low flat rates between January and April last year, with part-time employees at each cafe receiving about $20 per hour, and Cafe Touchwood casual employees receiving between $17 and $22 per hour.

Cindy Huynh, a director of both companies, and her husband, Duy Phuong Dang, a manager and shareholder of the Brunswick cafe, have signed up to court-enforceable undertakings and will be under scrutiny for three years.