Date Time
More than $1.2m in underpayments recovered for WA employees in 2020/21
In the 2020/21 financial year, Private Sector Labour Relations industrial inspectors recovered $1,240,151 in unpaid wages and leave entitlements for employees covered by state employment laws.
A total of 199 complaints lodged with Private Sector Labour Relations resulted in $566,678 being recovered for employees, with a further $518,348 recovered through an ongoing proactive compliance campaign in the café and restaurant sector.
Five enforcement proceedings in the Industrial Magistrates Court were finalised during the financial year, resulting in the recovery of $155,125 in employee entitlements.
Private Sector Labour Relations Executive Director Lorraine Field said today that although it was a great outcome for employees, it was disappointing that some employers were underpaying their staff.
Date Time
What to do if you have been underpaid
Employees who believe they have been underpaid can make an underpayment complaint to Wageline, which is part of Private Sector Labour Relations at the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.
State system employees
WA award pay rates and leave entitlements;
minimum pay rates and leave entitlements under the Minimum Conditions of Employment Act; and
long service leave entitlements under the Long Service Leave Act.
National system employees
For national system employees, Private Sector Labour Relations industrial inspectors can investigate alleged underpayments of long service leave under the Long Service Leave Act.
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The state opposition says the Andrews government s new wage theft laws, and the authority created to enforce them, will soon be redundant.
The federal governmentâs proposed workplace laws, introduced to Parliament in Canberra last week, contain clauses criminalising underpayments uniformly across the nation, and the state Liberals say that legislation will supersede all state and territory laws that provide for wage theft offences.
Both the Victorian and federal governments are introducing laws to help those who are overworked and, crucially, underpaid.
Credit:Loiuse Kennerley
But the Labor government shrugged off the attack on Monday, saying the system it is building to combat wage theft is superior to that of the federal government and it will be able to operate regardless of what happens in Canberra.