New laws in Australia criminalize wage theft, with bosses potentially facing up to 10 years in prison and $1.65 million fines for intentionally underpaying workers.
Australian bosses could face up to 10 years in jail and fines of up to $1.65 million if they 'deliberately' underpay their workers, as part of new laws that nationally criminalise wage theft from January 1. The new laws and penalties follow years of underpayment scandals in Australia, with cases at prominent employers including Woolworths, Chatime, Qantas, NAB, BHP, 7-Eleven and the ABC.
Until now, the federal body that investigates wage theft has only been able to go after companies and their directors using civil laws, which don't come with the threat of jail time. But it will have to prove that the employer intentionally avoided paying a worker appropriate wages and penalties, superannuation or other entitlements. Companies and individuals can only be prosecuted for alleged offending that occurs after this date, and charges can only be laid by federal prosecution entities after a referral by Fair Work. Any individual found guilty could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of $1.65 million, while liable companies could be fined up to $8.25 million. Employment lawyer Daniel Victory said the bar to prosecute individuals under the new laws would be high, because Fair Work has never had to prove intent under its existing civil powers. 'These laws are really intended to break the business models of businesses that deliberately underpay workers,' the principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn said. For this reason, Mr Victory thinks Fair Work will only go after particularly 'egregious' or high-profile examples of intentional wage theft with its new powers. 'The truth of the matter is the government isn't going to, and probably couldn't afford to, enforce every single intentional underpayment that occurs,' he said. Some of the nation's biggest employers and institutions have come under fire for large scale underpayments including Qantas, BHP, NAB, CBA, Coles, Woolworths, Super Retail Group and the AB
WAGE THEFT AUSTRALIA LAWS EMPLOYERS FINES
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