Underpaying Your Employees

It is not uncommon for businesses around Australia to underpay their employees because either they do not know the Award level of pay their employees should be receiving or they want to save some extra money and hope that they won't get caught out in the process.

Just last week a NSW-based security company were investigated by the Fair Work Ombudsman and found to be guilty of underpaying 5 security employees. The Fair Work Ombudsman investigated the NSW-based security company after receiving requests for assistance from 2 of the security guards. The security guards were found to be underpaid by $29,690 in total. The largest underpayment was to a guard who worked at Stockland Shellharbour Shopping Centre for $12,086. The security company was paying it's employees a flat hourly rate which did not cover the minimum requirements under the Security Services Industry Award.

This case illustrates the dangers of paying a flat hourly rate without making reference to the applicable Award. To ensure that your business is not also underpaying your employees it is recommended to compare the hourly rate of pay provided to your employees against the minimum hourly rate of pay in the applicable Award.

If you would like assistance in confirming that your business is not underpaying your employees and would like a comparison between the wages being paid and the minimum wages under the applicable Award, feel free to contact Jay Sharpe on 1300 135 782 or email jay@sharpews.com.au.

If you wish to read more about this case head to http://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media-releases/2017-media-releases/february-2017/20170210-unimet-eu-release.