04:05 Issue 14

Not long after, Amira learned that Fair Work had begun looking into the café. She didn’t know the details—just that she wasn’t the only one with concerns, and her case had contributed to something bigger. Eventually, she received what she was owed—not just emotionally, but financially. The specifics were never shared, but the message was clear: the system had finally recognised what she already knew—she had been a permanent employee in everything but name. But by then, the damage was done. After all she’d given—how much she’d grown—it hurt to realise how invisible she’d been. Still, she didn’t walk away bitter. She walked away empowered. Amira left Coffee Chaos for the last time, hearing the till close behind her. This time, it was on her terms. She was finally ready to open the café she’d always dreamed of. And thanks to everything she’d learned, she knew exactly what kind of employer she wanted to be. Her experience made her a better, wiser, more thoughtful business owner—one who understood that silence, when something’s wrong, is never neutral.

If she’d known she could contact the payroll provider, she might’ve raised it earlier. But no one ever told employees they could. Everything went through the manager, who, well- meaning as she was, didn’t have the right answers. agreed to check with the payroll provider. After a few weeks, the response finally came—not from payroll, but from the manager: “You agreed to work as a casual. We don’t have to convert you.” Something in her shifted. Amira decided to ask. The manager was unsure but She thought of something her grandfather used to say when she was little: “When you stay silent in the face of wrongdoing, you become part of it.” Amira had stayed quiet long enough. Jason helped her contact Fair Work. There, she got answers— and something she hadn’t felt in a long time: control. She went back to her manager, this time with confidence. The response changed. Conversion was now on the table.

04:05 I 45

ISSUE 14 GLOBAL PAYROLL MAGAZINE

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