Inspectors also finish workplace probe into WA awards, long-service leave entitlements
Unpaid wages and entitlements worth over $660,000 have been retrieved by the Private Sector Labour Relations in Western Australia in the past 12 months.
Industrial inspectors in Private Sector Labour Relations recovered $664,456 in unpaid wages and entitlements in the 2022/23 financial year, the state government said in a media release.
This follows a total of 258 workplace investigations by industrial inspectors looking into underpayments under state employment laws.
WA Awards, Long Service Leave Act
According to the state government, the completed probes were related to wages under WA awards and long service leave entitlements under the WA Long Service Leave Act.
WA awards set the minimum pay rates and other working arrangements for employees in a particular industry or occupation, according to the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation, and Safety.
"If an employee is covered by a WA award, the pay rates, leave entitlements, allowances and penalty rates outlined in the WA award must be provided to the employee as a minimum," the department said on its website.
"Different rates of pay often apply to employees depending on the classification and type of work being performed. Separate rates of pay also commonly apply to junior employees, apprentices, and trainees."
Entitlement to long service leave
Meanwhile, the Long Service Leave is an entitlement an employee receives after a long period of working for the same employer, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
In Western Australia, the paid leave entitlement is granted for full-time, part-time, and casual employees.
"The entitlement to long service leave under the Long Service Leave Act depends on the length of the employee's continuous employment, which may include service with a previous employer where there has been a change of business ownership," the state government said on its website.
Individuals who contravene the act could face a penalty of up to $13,000, or up to $130,000 in case of a serious violation. For businesses, they may face a penalty of up to $65,000 or up to $650,000 in case of a serious contravention.
"A serious contravention is defined as a situation in which the person knowingly commits the contravention and this conduct is part of a systematic pattern of conduct relating to one or more other persons," the state government said on its website.
Crackdown on underpayments
The Australian government has proposed stronger penalties for wage theft to ensure misconduct enabling "underpayment is… treated as seriously as the underpayment itself."
In the government's consultation paper, businesses could face a new maximum penalty of $412,500, with serious contraventions leading up to $4,125,000. For individuals, the proposed maximum penalty could go as high as $85,500, with serious violations up to $825,000.
The proposal comes as major employers across Australia admit to underpaying millions to staff, including Suncorp, BHP, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Coles Supermarkets, and Woolworths.
"What we've been seeing lately are a lot of big, otherwise very responsible, employers discovering themselves that their payroll systems have had inaccuracies in them and alerting the Fair Work Ombudsman and trying to negotiate a solution to that themselves," Joellen Riley Munton, Executive Counsel at Harmers Workplace Lawyers, previously told HRD Australia.
To avoid underpayments, Munton advised HR teams to keep very careful records and ensure proper communication with line managers. She also urged employers to tap on independent organisations to audit their payroll systems.
