Vic juice shops accused of squeezing staff

Two Victorian juice shops are being taken to court, accused of squeezing workers out of tens of thousands of dollars and trying to cover it up.

Twenty-seven employees were underpaid a total of $38,458 across the Hello Juice outlets at Werribee and Geelong over several months in 2017, the Fair Work Ombudsman says.

Some were allegedly paid as little as $10 an hour.

The ombudsman is taking the outlets' operators, Skypac Group and Skypic Group, and the stores' general manager, Hua Gong, to the Federal Circuit Court.

Skypac Group and Gong allegedly gave Fair Work false or misleading records and breached laws relating to pay slips and record keeping.

They are also accused of forcing one worker to hand back $1300 to cover part of a rectification payment and her tax refund.

Fair Work is seeking court orders for Gong to back-pay workers in full.

Ombudsman Sandra Parker says employers in the fast food, restaurant and cafe industry are on notice to pay all employees their legal wages.

A directions hearing is set down for the Federal Circuit Court in Melbourne for November 15.