RETAILERS who require their staff to wear brand clothing and jewellery at work are breaking the law by making their employees pay for the stock out of their own wages.
Employees at Australian chain stores including Lovisa, Forever New and Diva have complained that they are spending a significant portion of their earnings keeping up to date with current stock.
Retail employees are often entitled to a staff discount. But under the Fair Work Act, if employers require their staff to wear "special" items they must either provide the clothes or reimburse the cost of purchasing the clothing to the employee.
The Fair Work Ombudsman told news.com.au workers who have been forced to pay for clothing to wear at work had six years to claim a reimbursement.
Caitlin Boland, an employee at jewellery chain Lovisa, will be reimbursed for all the jewellery she has bought while working for the retailer after she complained to the company's CEO Chris Yates.
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Ms Boland, 21, is required to wear a "Lovisa high five" of a hairpiece, necklace, earrings, ring and bracelet while at work. The jewellery must be current stock and it must be in stock in the store.
She has calculated that she has spent 64 per cent of her earnings on jewellery, even with the 50 per cent staff discount.
"I love working at Lovisa. It's more just that it's unfair that you have to be buying the five pieces and you're not being reimbursed for it," she said.
Ms Boland says she thinks the issue is widespread within Lovisa and across the retail industry because retail employees don't know their rights.
"I think that's why a lot of girls don't take action because they don't really know if it's legal or not," she said. "That's why I didn't really mention that to any of my family or friends at first because the discount was there and I thought it was fine."
Ms Boland says she hopes Lovisa takes more action than just reimbursing her.
"I want [Lovisa CEO Chris Yates] to change the contract and I'm trying to get as many of the girls aware about it. So he's bombarded with so many claims until he realises this is illegal as it says on Fair Work."
A Lovisa spokesperson said: "We have contacted the team member and listened to their questions. We have committed to resolving any concerns our team members have by the end of the week."
News.com.au first reported on this issue in January 2012, which led Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten to warn retailers they could face penalties for making staff "spend their money in a certain way".
But almost 18 months later it is still a big issue in the retail industry.
A Forever New employee, who did not wish to be named, told news.com.au staff were required to wear current stock at work and weren't allowed to wear clothing that was on sale. Staff get a 40 per cent discount.
"We turn over stock very, very quickly so how much money you spend depends on what you buy. If you've been there for a while you can tell what's going to sell well and what's not, so you try to pick the things that aren't going to be so popular that they'll sell out," she said.
Staff forced to spend wages on brands? clothes
Staff forced to spend wages on brands' clothes
Shanyn Brennan (pictured above), a former Forever New employee, spent thousands of dollars on clothing during her four years working for the chain store.
"Even with the discount it's quite expensive, the clothes aren't cheap. When I was working a bit more I was getting $400 or $500 per week but any given week about $100 would go to clothes," said Ms Brennan, who worked at the retailer from 2008 until May 2012.
Ms Brennan said she witnessed the parents of school-aged employees come into the store to buy the required clothing because their children could not afford it.
A Forever New spokeswoman denied it was compulsory for its employees to wear Forever New product.
"Our policies have been audited by the Fair Work Ombudsmen and no issues or breach of the Fair Work Act were found," she said.
A Diva employee, who did not want to be named, said staff at the jewellery chain also had to wear at least five pieces of jewellery at all times. Diva is owned by BB Retail Capital, the same parent company as Lovisa.
"But also we're not allowed to wear any sale items, only full price items. If something goes on sale or is marked down or reduced we can't wear it anymore," she said.
"I've spent so much money there it's ridiculous.
"If you showed up for work without any jewellery and you didn't buy any I'm sure they'd send you home. You have to look a certain way to be in the store and sell the stuff."
Diva global CEO Michelle Kluz said: "We do not require our team members to wear our jewellery, however we prefer them to wear it. Our sales team is provided with free team allowance pieces throughout the year, along with a 50 per cent discount on all other items."
Acting Fair Work Ombudsman Michael Campbell told news.com.au it was not appropriate for employers to force staff to buy specific clothing from their store to wear to work unless they pay for the clothes or reimburse them.
Mr Campbell said any worker who has a concern of this nature should lodge a complaint with the Fair Work Ombudsman either via the website at
www.fairwork.gov.au or by calling the Infoline on 13 13 94.
