FWO recovers over $500 million of underpaid or unpaid wages for workers

Small business payment times

About $532 million in unpaid wages and entitlements were recovered by The Fair Work Ombudsman during the past financial year, setting a new record at about three times last year’s figure.

The recoveries – around $279 million of which came from large corporate employers – will benefit 384,000 workers nationwide.

During an address to the Policy-Influence-Reform (PIR) conference in Canberra this week, Kristen Hannah, deputy Fair Work Ombudsman – policy and communication, said the figures are good news for workers and compliant businesses.

“This is a great result for the workers who have been reunited with their withheld wages, and also for the businesses that pay correctly and are no longer at a disadvantage,” Hannah said.

The workplace regulator filed 137 litigation in the last financial year and has about 50 ongoing investigations into large corporates regarding self-reported underpayments. Litigations against the Commonwealth Bank and Commsec, and Coles Supermarkets are ongoing.

“This is the result of the sustained hard work that our agency has done to create an environment that encourages large corporates to prioritise compliance,” Hannah said.

The agency also works with small-business employers, providing more than 1200 written pieces of tailored technical advice through its Employer Advisory Service.