Employers engaging in deliberate Wage Theft may face up to 10 years jail

Under the new Criminal Code and Other Legislation (Wage Theft) Amendment Bill 2020 (Bill), which was passed by the Queensland Parliament on 9 September 2020, employers that engage in deliberate wage theft face jail terms of up to 10 years or 14 years when fraud is involved. The Bill was introduced to ensure that wage recovery processes for Queensland workers are simple, quick and low-cost. The effect of the Bill is that it amends the Queensland Criminal Code definition of stealing so as to provide an offence against an employer who intentionally fails to make payment of wages or entitlements when it becomes payable to their employee.

How does wage theft occur?

Wage theft can take various forms. These include underpayment of wages and having entitlements such as leave and penalty rates withheld. It also includes an employer not making required superannuation contributions on an employee’s behalf.

Unpaid wages may occur due to a range of factors, including but not limited to:

1. paying the incorrect hourly rates of pay;
2. not paying penalty rates for overtime hours and weekend or public holiday work;
3. paying cash in hand;
4. requiring prospective employees to work unpaid trial or ‘test’ shifts;
5. expecting employees to work through their breaks or to attend work early or stay after closing time to close up;
6. requiring employees to spend their own money on costs that are the cost of running a business; and
7. not paying employees for attending training or even doing online training, or for attending staff meetings.

Take home message