Kajal Limbachiya says she would sometimes sleep on the couch at the Indian restaurant where she worked when she had insufficient breaks between her shifts.
At the start of 2020, the then-24-year-old international student from India was unaware she was about to face the toughest time of her life.
"But I survived," Ms Limbachiya said.
For $10 an hour she worked day and night shifts, doing a range of tasks including cooking, waitressing, and other odd jobs.
When she finished at 4am and had to work again at 10:30am, she said she slept at the restaurant in Melbourne because it wasn't worth going home.
Ms Limbachiya was also struggling financially because her employer wasn't paying her properly — she was owed nearly $15,000 in wages and superannuation when the pandemic hit in March.
The lockdown also meant she couldn't easily switch jobs.
Ms Limbachiya said she couldn't afford food, rent or university fees and spiralled into depression.
"If he gave me that money, I would not have suffered this much," she said.
Two years on, the 26-year-old still has not been paid, despite a court ordering her employer to pay her what she is owed.
Ms Limbachiya's experience shows how the legal system makes it hard for vulnerable workers to get back "small claims" — unpaid wages and entitlements up to $20,000.
"At the moment there must be so many court orders that have been made in this space, small claims applications relating to unpaid employment entitlements, that have just been Pyrrhic...
A California lawmaker is suing Sacramento police for falsely accusing her of driving under the influence, saying the case may have been motivated by her tough-on-cops legislation or possibly becaus...