UNPAID WAGES CLAIM

An employer is required to pay you as their employee a minimum amount of pay for each hour of work performed.

UNPAID WAGES CLAIM

Identifying the correct rate of pay is, unfortunately, not a simple task.

An employee’s rate of pay is often set out in one or more of the following documents:

• an award;
• an enterprise agreement; or
• a contract of employment (created either verbally or in writing).

Determining the correct rate of pay is a complex task and will require an assessment of the industry in which you work, your work duties and (in some instances) your age.

In addition to being paid the correct amount, an employee is entitled to receive regular information regarding their wages, together with information about any entitlements to overtime and allowances that they are to be paid from time-to-time.

For example, the Fair Work Act 2009 states that an employer must give its employees a pay slip within one working day of paying an amount to its employees for the performance of work.

Some other matters that are also important to review and assess, include:

• that an employee is being paid at least monthly.
• ensuring non-permitted deductions are not being deducted from your wage;
• that you are being issued with a payslip, which contains basic information such as who your employer is, your rate of pay, your leave accruals and the amount being contributed to your superannuation fund;
• that you are being paid in full and the employer is not requiring you to spend a component of your wage on a prohibited item.

In addition to the above matters, you (as an employee) can ask your employer to provide you with a copy of your employee record. In most cases, these records must be provided to you within 3 days of a request being made.

At Anderson Gray Lawyers, we have many years of experience in collating and assessing all the relevant information to determine whether the rate of pay being paid to an employee for a hard day’s work is correct.