Wage theft becomes a criminal offence if employers deliberately underpay staff
From 1 January 2025, an employer will now commit a criminal offence if they deliberately underpay their staff.
In the ACTU press release, Acting Secretary, Joseph Mitchell said:
“The tough laws that come into force today will make a huge contribution to ending wage theft as a business model.
“After a decade of inaction on wage theft and national scandals at places like 7-eleven, Commonwealth Bank and at universities this action is welcome. Workers deserve every dollar of their pay and super should get the money that is owed them.
“Businesses are on notice and need to pay their workers properly, especially vulnerable younger workers.
More than one million Australian workers experience wage theft by being paid below the national minimum wage or the lowest junior or casual rates in the awards system.
The new laws are a direct response to widespread cases of wage theft that in many industries have become a standard business model. The new anti-wage theft laws cover all employers and employees covered by the Fair Work Act. The Director of Public Prosecutions and the Australian Federal Police will handle prosecutions, with investigations primarily conducted by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
What should members do if they suspect they are not being correctly paid?
As a result of member cases investigated, IEU(SA) published a three-part series of articles on Wage Theft, the links are at the bottom of this article.
In simple terms, wage theft occurs when an employer does not pay an employee or group of employees their correct wage and or entitlements.
Whilst many will automatically think in terms of underpaying an employee because of an incorrect salary calculation you should be mindful it can take other forms such as:
- failing to pay superannuation
- not paying entitlements such as personal leave, annual leave or annual leave loading
- failing to pay for breaks
- failing to pay overtime (particularly when it is known staff are working through meal breaks or starting early/finishing late to complete assigned tasks and ‘normalising’ this behaviour)
- withholding of wages without permission of the employee
- deliberate employee misclassification (that is, being under classified)
- not paying appropriately for higher duties
- failing to pay for ‘on call’ or ‘recall’ periods
- failure to pay allowances
- avoiding redundancy pay
- ‘milking’ employees, particularly graduates and those on fixed term contracts, through ‘voluntary work’
The most significant mistake IEU members can make regarding underpayment of wages is presuming the employer IS doing ‘the right thing’. Often, members’ trust in their employer is based on the fact that they work in a religious faith-based school and believe such behaviour simply would not or could not occur.
The lesson to be learned is do not presume salary and entitlements are correct. Regularly check payslips and accrued entitlements and if you have a concern (or simply do not understand something no matter how great or small) contact the IEU. It is better to resolve any matters as soon as possible.
Speak to your local IEU Rep and or call the IEU office and speak with the responsible Organiser: 8410 0122
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IEU(SA) articles:
https://ieusa.org.au/wage-theft-dont-presume-your-employer-is-doing-the-right-thing
https://ieusa.org.au/wage-theft-part-2-dont-presume-employers-do-the-right-thing
https://ieusa.org.au/wage-theft-article-3
Sources:
