“Australian
workers are dealing with the rising cost
of
living, housing market pressures, a rental crisis,
and
stagnant wage growth.
Unpaid
earnings harm people who worked in good faith for their pay packet
and - right now - people are having to carefully count every dollar…
More
than $847.25 million in wages are estimated to be underpaid each
year, affecting 1.38 million workers, or
about
11.5 per cent of the employed Australian workforce”
[McKell
Institute, “Unfinished
Business: The Ongoing Battle Against Wage Theft”,
August 2023]
Smart
Company,
22 August 2023:
Wage
theft is costing Australian workers $850 million a year,
demonstrating an “ingrained culture” of deliberate underpayment
and the need for criminalisation at the federal level, according to a
damning new report from the McKell Institute.
A
fresh analysis of Fair Work Ombudsman audits stretching back to 2009
shows more than a quarter of audited businesses failed to observe the
monetary obligations set out by industry awards or enterprise
agreements, according to the think tank.
Its
calculations show nearly 27,000 businesses were found to have
underpaid approximately 1.3 million Australian workers over that time
frame.
The
real level of wage underpayment is likely higher, McKell Institute
CEO Ed Cavanough said, as the analysis did not cover the underpayment
of penalty rates, or circumstances where payment under a different
award would have been more appropriate.
“This
is an extraordinary amount of money being stolen and it’s
unacceptable,” Cavanough said in a statement.
Wage
underpayment hits businesses big and small
The
report arrives against a backdrop of high-profile wage underpayments
claims, with Coles,
Target,
and Bunnings
just a few of the major brands to have revealed significant wage
underpayments in recent years.
Wage
underpayment also stretches deep into the small business sector, with
the Fair Work Ombudsman on Tuesday revealing it has levelled nearly
$85,000 in penalties against two
Victorian businesses accused of underpaying
young workers, as a result of its latest investigation.
The
Ombudsman recently launched a spate of undercover campaigns targeting
small restaurants and food court vendors deemed to offer
suspiciously low-cost fare.
The
McKell Institute argues laws criminalising wage theft across the
board are necessary to discourage employers from deliberately
withholding earnings and entitlements.
The
report throws its weight behind the federal government’s upcoming
industrial relations reform package, which is expected to contain
legislation making wage theft a criminal offence across the board….
Read
the full article here.
In
the NSW Northern Rivers region there are two federal
electorates, Page and Richmond.
According
to the McKell Institute 29-page analysis
of the economic impact of wage theft in Australia, as of June 2022:
In
the electorate of Page there were est. 1,366 non-compliant
business which between them were believed to have stolen
wages from 7,023 employees with a total minimum value of
$4,289,664.
In
the electorate of Richmond there were est. 1,754
non-compliant businesses which between them were believed
to have stolen wages from 9,022 employees with a total
minimum value of $5,510,65.
