RMIT expert available for comment on Victoria’s wage theft laws

Professor Anthony Forsyth (0431 103 172 or anthony.forsyth@rmit.edu.au)

Topics: industrial relations, labour laws, workplace relations, employment law

“The enactment of criminal penalties for wage theft in Victoria is a really important response to widespread underpayments and breaches of workplace laws.

“The Victorian wage theft legislation does raise potential issues for employers in having to comply with two sets of laws around enforcement of minimum employment standards - the new state law, and the existing framework for civil remedies end enforcement through the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) under the Fair Work Act.

"Further federal regulation, possibly including criminal penalties under the Fair Work Act, is likely to come out of the Federal Government's recently-announced IR reform consultation process.

“It's almost inevitable we'll see an employer who is subjected to investigation and penalties under the Victorian legislation bring a legal challenge, arguing the state law is unconstitutional.

“However, the concerns employers are raising about their reluctance to self-report underpayments (because of potential criminal liability in Victoria) are misplaced.

"Rather it highlights the inadequacy of the existing federal approach to enforcement, which encourages self-reporting to the FWO - and then reaching agreements (including so-called ‘contrition payments’) to resolve underpayments, as with George Calombaris’ MADE Establishments group, Thales, Sunglass Hut etc.

“The focus of businesses now should be, not on how this upsets their prospects of an easier ride through the FWO process but getting the right systems in place to prevent underpayments from occurring.”

Professor Anthony Forsyth is a workplace relations and employment law expert at RMIT University’s School of Graduate Business and Law. 

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