If you are in the WA state system and have been paid less than your WA award, industrial agreement, the State Minimum Wage, the minimum conditions or your long service leave entitlement, you have two main options. You can make a free complaint to Wageline, the State Government's wage advisory and inspection service, or you can bring a claim in the Industrial Magistrates Court. You generally have 6 years to do so.
The Industrial Magistrates Court must order an underpayment to be paid once it is shown, can add interest, and can impose penalties of up to $930,000 on a company. This page explains how each route works. If your claim is about something promised in your contract rather than an award or statute, see Denied Contractual Benefits instead.
Six years. A claim to the Industrial Magistrates Court must be made within 6 years after the underpayment (s 82A of the Industrial Relations Act 1979 (WA)), and the court can only order payment for amounts going back up to 6 years before the claim is started (s 83A(2)). Every pay period you wait can be a pay period you lose.
Who This Page Is For
The WA state system covers employees of sole traders, partnerships of individuals, trusts with individual trustees, non-trading associations, WA local governments and the WA public sector. See Am I in the State or Federal System?.
Your minimum entitlements come from:
- the State Minimum Wage and the Minimum Conditions of Employment Act 1993 (WA) (see Minimum Conditions in WA);
- any WA award or industrial agreement that covers your job;
- the Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA).
The Fair Work Ombudsman does not deal with state system pay and conditions. The State's equivalent is Private Sector Labour Relations, which runs Wageline.
Option One: Complain to Wageline
Wageline (1300 655 266) is a free advice line on WA award rates, minimum conditions, long service leave and child employment, run by Private Sector Labour Relations in the WA Government. You can lodge a complaint, and industrial inspectors can investigate.
Inspectors have real powers. They can enter workplaces, require documents and answers (IR Act s 98), and:
- give your employer a compliance notice requiring it to calculate and pay the underpayment within a reasonable time (IR Act s 84Q), which can be given up to 6 years after the underpayment; failing to comply is itself a contravention;
- accept an enforceable undertaking from your employer to fix the problem (s 84M);
- issue infringement notices for record-keeping and pay slip breaches (s 84C);
- bring a claim in the Industrial Magistrates Court themselves, and no costs can be ordered against an inspector (s 107).
A complaint to Wageline makes most sense for smaller claims, clear-cut award rate errors, or where you cannot fund litigation. A court claim is usually better where the amount is significant, your employer disputes which award applies or what it means, the 6-year window is closing, or you want a penalty ordered and paid to you.
Option Two: A Claim in the Industrial Magistrates Court
The Industrial Magistrates Court is a court that enforces awards, industrial agreements, WAIRC orders, the minimum conditions and long service leave (IR Act ss 81A, 83). Enforcement of these entitlements belongs to it exclusively; the WAIRC does not order payment of award wages.
Who can bring the claim. You can, as an employee to whom the award, agreement or minimum condition applies. So can a union that is a party to the award or agreement, an industrial inspector, or the Registrar (IR Act s 83(1)).
What the court must do. If it appears you have not been paid what you were entitled to, the court must order your employer to pay the underpayment (IR Act s 83A(1)). The order can reach back up to 6 years before you started the claim, or further back if your employer failed to produce records to an inspector (s 83A(2)).
Interest. The court can award interest from when the money was due (Industrial Magistrate's Court (General Jurisdiction) Regulations 2005 (WA) reg 12). In CFMEU v Qube Ports Pty Ltd [2026] WAIRC 00064 it applied 6% a year, the rate for civil judgments, which the parties had agreed.
Penalties. The court can also impose a penalty. The maximums from 31 January 2025 are (IR Act ss 83(4A), 83E(1)):
| Who | Ordinary contravention | Serious contravention |
|---|---|---|
| Company or other body corporate | $93,000 | $930,000 |
| Individual | $18,000 | $180,000 |
A contravention is serious if it was committed knowingly or recklessly (IR Act s 83EA). The court can order that the penalty, or part of it, be paid to you (s 83F). It can also order the employer to take steps to prevent further contraventions (s 83(5)).
Costs. In most underpayment claims each side pays its own legal costs, even if you win. The court can order your employer to pay your lawyer's costs only if it finds a serious contravention, or if the employer defended the claim frivolously or vexatiously (IR Act s 83C(2)). If costs matter to you, the seriousness of the contravention needs to be pleaded and proved from the start.
Appeals. A decision of the Industrial Magistrates Court can be appealed to the Full Bench of the WAIRC within 21 days (IR Act s 84).
Can Directors and Managers Be Pursued?
Yes, at least for penalties. Anyone "involved in" a contravention is treated as having committed it (IR Act s 83(2), (2A)). That includes a person who aided, abetted, counselled or procured it, induced it, was knowingly concerned in it, or conspired to bring it about. It can reach directors, HR managers, payroll providers and accountants who knew the essential facts.
Whether the court can order an involved person, such as a director, to pay the underpayment itself (as opposed to a penalty) is less clear under the current Act. A Bill before Parliament would clarify this, but it is not law: see Recent Law Changes. If your employer is a company in financial trouble, talk to us about the options early.
Records and Pay Slips
Your employer must keep detailed employment records, including your hours, pay, leave and superannuation, for at least 7 years (IR Act s 49D). It must give you a pay slip within 1 working day after paying you (s 49DA). On your written request, it must let you inspect and copy your records within the time set by s 49E, and that obligation continues after you leave.
These rules matter for two reasons:
- failing to keep records, give pay slips or allow access is itself a civil penalty contravention (s 49F); and
- if your employer did not keep a record or give a pay slip it was required to, it bears the burden of disproving what you say about that matter (for example, the hours you worked), unless it has a reasonable excuse (IR Act s 83EB).
So before filing a claim, make a written request for your records. A refusal or a gap in the records then works in your favour.
Long Service Leave Claims
The Industrial Magistrates Court has jurisdiction over all disputes about long service leave under the Long Service Leave Act 1958 (WA), including whether you are entitled, how much, your ordinary rate of pay, and whether your employer ended your employment to avoid paying it (LSL Act s 11). The 6-year limit applies.
The LSL Act covers most private sector employees in WA in both the state and federal systems, so federal system employees in WA can bring long service leave claims here too. It does not apply if you have a separate long service leave entitlement under an award, agreement or other law that is at least equivalent overall (LSL Act s 4A). An award scheme that required 15 years before any entitlement was not equivalent to the Act's 10 years (Commission's Own Motion [2023] WAIRC 00262).
See Minimum Conditions in WA for how much long service leave you are entitled to.
Avoid the Wrong Process
- An award interpretation application does not recover money. People sometimes apply to the WAIRC under IR Act s 46 to have an award clause interpreted, expecting to be paid. A s 46 declaration settles what the clause means but is not an order to pay, and it does not stop the 6-year clock on your own claim. If you are owed money, the claim belongs in the Industrial Magistrates Court (Australian Rail, Tram and Bus Industry Union v Public Transport Authority [2017] WAIRC 00830, Full Bench).
- Contract money goes to the WAIRC. The Industrial Magistrates Court does not hear claims that are purely for breach of your employment contract. Those go to the WAIRC as a denied contractual benefits claim.
Federal Wage Claims in the Industrial Magistrates Court
The Industrial Magistrates Court is also an "eligible State court" under the Fair Work Act, so employees in the federal system can bring Fair Work Act wage claims there, including under the informal small claims procedure (CFMEU v Qube Ports Pty Ltd [2024] WAIRC 00789). WA state system employees can also use it to enforce the federal entitlements that reach them, such as notice of termination.
One limit: unlike the federal courts, the Industrial Magistrates Court cannot order anyone other than the employer (such as a director) to pay the amounts owed under the Fair Work Act, although it can penalise them (CFMEU v Jetwave Marine Services Pty Ltd [2025] WAIRC 00699). For more on federal wage claims, see Wage Claims.
Enforcing a WAIRC Unfair Dismissal Order
If your employer does not comply with a WAIRC order to reinstate you or pay you compensation, you can apply to the Industrial Magistrates Court to enforce it, and there is no filing fee (IR Act s 83B). The court can order compliance, impose a penalty of up to $13,000, and, for a reinstatement order, revoke it and order the employer to pay you between 6 and 12 months' remuneration instead.
Choosing the Right Route
| Your situation | Where to go |
|---|---|
| Small, clear-cut award or minimum wage underpayment | Wageline complaint, then possibly a compliance notice |
| Significant underpayment under an award, agreement, the minimum conditions or long service leave | Industrial Magistrates Court (IR Act s 83), within 6 years |
| Your employer has not kept records or given pay slips | Written records request, then the Industrial Magistrates Court |
| Money owed only under your contract | WAIRC denied contractual benefits claim |
| Your employer ignored a WAIRC unfair dismissal order | Industrial Magistrates Court (IR Act s 83B), no fee |
| You are in the federal system and want a local court | Industrial Magistrates Court as an eligible State court, or a federal court if you need to pursue a director for the money |
What to Gather
- your payslips, bank statements and any group certificates or income statements;
- your contract and letter of offer;
- rosters, timesheets, diaries or phone records showing the hours you worked;
- the name of the award or agreement you think applies, and your job title and duties;
- any messages with your employer about pay.
For Employers
The penalties rose sharply on 31 January 2025, and knowing or reckless underpayments carry maximums ten times higher. Directors and managers who are involved can be personally penalised. The best protection is to check which award applies, pay at least the current rates (which change every 1 July), keep the records s 49D requires, give pay slips on time, and fix errors promptly when they are found. If an inspector contacts you or you receive a compliance notice, get advice straight away: a compliance notice can be reviewed by the court, but only if you act.
How MKI Legal Can Help
We recover unpaid wages, leave and long service leave for WA employees, and advise employers facing Wageline investigations and Industrial Magistrates Court claims. We can work out which award applies, calculate what is owed, request the records, and advise whether a Wageline complaint or a court claim is the better path. Contact us for a free, no-obligation and confidential discussion about your circumstances.