The Problems People Bring to Us
Underpayments are often discovered late, when someone compares notes with a colleague, checks an award, or finally looks at a final pay statement. The patterns we see are:
- Award rates not paid: the wrong classification, the wrong award, or a flat rate that never kept up with increases.
- Penalty rates, overtime and allowances missed: weekends, public holidays, early starts, long shifts, travel and living-away allowances.
- Annualised salaries that do not cover the hours actually worked.
- "Casual" or "contractor" in name only. You worked regular, ongoing hours, or were told to get an ABN for work an employee would do, and missed out on leave and other entitlements.
- Final pay problems: unpaid annual leave, long service leave, notice or redundancy pay when the job ended.
- Unpaid superannuation.
How We Help, Stage by Stage
First Discussion
We ask what you were paid, what you worked, and for how long, and work out which award, agreement or contract applies and whether you are in the national or the WA state system. A court claim for an underpayment generally has to be brought within six years of the contravention (s 544 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)), so older amounts can be lost if you wait.
What you get: a first view of whether you have been underpaid, and roughly how far back the claim can go.
Reviewing Your Documents
We go through payslips, rosters, timesheets, bank records and your contract, and compare them with the instrument that applies.
What you get: a calculation of what you should have been paid and the difference.
Advice on Your Options
You can raise it yourself, ask the Fair Work Ombudsman to look into it, or have us pursue it. If you are still employed, you are protected from adverse action for making a complaint or inquiry about your pay, and we can advise on how to raise it with that in mind.
What you get: the options explained, with the likely time and cost of each.
Negotiating
Most underpayment claims start with a letter of demand setting out the calculation. Many resolve at that stage.
What you get: a demand prepared and sent by us, and advice on any response.
The Court or Commission
If the employer will not pay, national system claims go to the Federal Circuit and Family Court (including its small claims procedure) or the Industrial Magistrates Court of WA. State system claims go to the Industrial Magistrates Court, or to the WAIRC for a denied contractual benefit. We prepare and run the claim.
Settlement and the Deed
We make sure any settlement properly accounts for tax and super, and that the release is no wider than it needs to be.
What to Bring to the First Conversation
- As many payslips as you can find, including the last one
- Your contract, letter of offer and any variations
- Rosters, timesheets, a diary or phone records showing the hours you actually worked
- Your job title and a description of what you did day to day
- The name of the award or agreement, if you know it
- Any correspondence where you raised your pay
How We Have Helped
A long-serving worker had been paid a flat rate, without penalty rates for weekends, public holidays and early starts, or overtime. We reconstructed the hours from their records, calculated the shortfall under the award, and sent a demand. The claim was resolved by agreement.
A worker had been engaged as a casual, working regular, predictable hours, and never received paid leave. We advised on how the arrangement should have been treated, set out the entitlements that followed, and negotiated with the employer. The matter was resolved by agreement, recorded in a deed.
Every matter is different. These examples are general and do not indicate the outcome of any other matter.
Talk to Us
Underpayment claims run back only so far, so the sooner you check, the more you may be able to recover. Call (08) 9470 2777 or contact us online for a free and confidential initial discussion about your pay.
Read more: Wage Claims · Awards and Enterprise Agreements · Contractors