my employer isn’t paying me correctly and i’ve just found out isn’t paying my super

[breona]

I’m 19 and work at a retail shop, have been since last October, recently my friend started working there too and she realised we both aren’t getting paid our right amount, and i’ve sat on it a bit because my dad just committed suicide and i truly couldn’t be bothered looking into to it, but without calculating the correct amount just in wages they’d owe her around $400+ and me over $1,500. Now, i just saw that post about someone’s employer not paying their super and it prompted me to check mine which i don’t regularly do and it turns out neither has mine despite it being on my payslip, what do i even do at this point?

I know the company is struggling financially, it’s a small business, and my employer plans to close this store (he has one other store) as soon as the lease is up (not sure when that actually is though). Neither I nor my friend signed any employment contract, but I am an official employee, have been receiving payslip, and i signed an online kind of contract back in like october but i don’t remember exactly what it was. My friend doesn’t receive payslips and didn’t sign a contract

I’d rather not be out of a job but i also know that it’s not right or fair to not get the right pay or super, especially since i’ve learnt from this group how important super is.

is it true that if they go into bunkruptcy we won’t get anything? his other business is thriving so

 

[antholmar]

@breona Query it with your employer first (via email preferably so you have a paper trail), the fact you or your friend didn’t sign an official employment contract seems dodgy to me.

As for super, it will show up on your payslip every week, however as an employer you don’t actually have to pay the super every week but you do have to calculate it every payslip and pay it every 3 months. So if you started in October they should have paid your superannuation contribution at least once with another payment coming soon. If they haven’t paid any at all then once again query this with an E-mail for paper trail.

If your employer doesn’t do anything about it, or gives some excuse about why you’re not being paid correctly, then take it to fair work.

 

[resjudicata]

@antholmar Yes, a paper trail is hugely useful if the matter goes to court.

 

[sorthodox]

@antholmar Yes, and to piggy-back off this comment, even though it's paid quarterly, they have a month after the quarter to finalise it, so it could be up to four months "late" without issue to the government. Pretty crap imo, when you'd want to be earning on that investment in your super but not much you can do.

 

[lordforgiveme]

@breona I also worked for a small business that didn’t pay my super or pay me correctly. I went to fair work and lodged a claim. It took probably 6 months for everything to be settled but they kept me up to date sporadically throughout the process and they did most of the investigation themselves, I barely had to provide anything.

I would ask your boss via email and keep a paper trail of all conversations you have relating to your pay and/or super. Even if you have a conversation in person, I would still follow up via email and reiterate what was discussed.

Honestly, it sucks.. I actually liked my boss and had empathy for the situation but at the end of the day if they can’t afford to pay you legally (including super) then they can’t afford to hire staff to work within their business.

Hope you’re doing ok! Feel free to dm me if you have any additional questions about the fair work process.

 

[blakejm]

@lordforgiveme If they can't afford to pay your wages then it is no different from wage theft. Would they be so understanding if someone stole from their business?

 

[xrainny]

@lordforgiveme Hi , I'm not an OP, but was wondering what if employer never responds to your email enquiry? Good enough to go straight to Fair work?

 

[lordforgiveme]

@xrainny Yeah, you can just go straight to fair work! Fair work only asked me questions about my employment and asked me if I tried to talk to my employer, I said yes but they never asked for any proof and picked it up from there. If you’ve tried and they’ve not responded, you can go straight to fair work

 

[lloyd_walty]

@breona https://www.fairwork.gov.au/

Contact the fair work ombudsman. Whatever the outcome for you financially you can bet the government will tear him a new one.

 

[quangbi5944a]

@lloyd_walty Fair Work will tell him/her to discuss with employer first. So first step is to ask for rectification in writing from the employer (tone doesn't have to be hostile).

 

[artistforjesus]

@lloyd_walty I disagree with the below comments saying the FWO won’t do shit. I had the pleasure of working for a fintech startup that wasn’t liquid enough to pay super. Different employees raised this issue privately and in public fora (all-hands meetings). Everybody was assured that it was already handled.

They weren’t paying super for over 6 months so for some folk their life insurance stopped because it was purchased through super. Some got emails from the super saying “you must have moved to a different super fund” lol.

Two or three of us complained to FWO when it was tax season and within two-three months the company had to back pay super, with interest.

 

[sanyambe]

@artistforjesus Are you sure it wasn’t the ATO? They would have been liable for the SG Charge for non payment, but this is done by the ATO not FWO.

 

[bluegoose]

@artistforjesus Are you sure it was the FWO? They have no jurisdiction to tell an employer to back pay Super. I worked there for nearly 5 years and we would ask nicely that Super be paid on underpayments in compliance notices but had no power to enforce it.

 

[jehoshaphat123]

@lloyd_walty Bad advice, the ombudsman will not do anything if she hasn't even attempted to speak to her employer about it first.

 

[resjudicata]

@lloyd_walty In 99.9% of cases, Fair Work will only provide the employee information. They get thousands of complaints every year but only pursue employers with court action or Compliance Notices in a handful of cases.

 

[bluegoose]

@resjudicata This is false. Most of their outcomes are through compliance notices. For matters to proceed to litigation the underpayments have to be particularly egregious involving a vulnerable cohort (OP is one as a young worker) or on the basis of non-compliance with a compliance notice.

OP, I would be planning an exit strategy. Non-payment of Super is a red flag that a business isn’t doing well.

OP needs to raise it with the employer first and likely issue a letter of demand. That may prompt the employer to pay the wages especially if OP mentions the FWO.

 

[resjudicata]

@bluegoose Bollocks. You haven't even spelt out what you claim to be false.

To be clear, the FWO gets well over 200,000 phone and written queries from employees and their representatives each year (according to their latest annual report). In the great majority of cases, they provide information only. Only very rarely will they issue a compliance notice or take an employer to court on your behalf.

The FWO also has a mediation service. I've been through that process twice, once on my own behalf and once on behalf of my partner. I would not recommend it.

 

[bluegoose]

@resjudicata I worked at the FWO for nearly five years. I issued 3-4 compliance notices a week as did all of my team. My team was the pilot team and the approach was adapted across the agency. It is never on a reporter’s behalf that it commences litigation.

I’m not suggesting OP go through mediation. That would be a terrible idea but mediation has almost nothing to do with recovery.

Oh it’s you again, saying shit that’s not true.

 

[stringfellow_hawke]

@bluegoose You put the fear of god in that guy so bad he deleted his account lmao.

 

[bensoninabox]

@lloyd_walty fair work won't do shit.