The Attorney-General’s Department has issued a discussion paper on penalties for wage theft.

The National Foundation for Australian Women has made a submission in response, arguing that the government’s discussion paper significantly underestimates the extent of the problem and the scope of the response that is required.

What behaviour is covered by the term ‘wage theft’?

Wage theft is shorthand for employer practices which include

• paying a base hourly rate that is below the relevant award or minimum wage base rate

• ignoring obligations to pay penalty rates for hours worked in the evenings, on weekends or on public holidays

• failing to comply with obligations to pay overtime rates or other incentive-based payments, bonuses or loadings

• failing to provide or pay out leave entitlements or failing to pay superannuation entitlements

• ‘cash back schemes’ whereby workers receive bank transfers of correct legal wages and are then forced to give back a proportion of their pay to the employer in cash

• ‘off-the-clock violations’ where staff are required to work beyond their scheduled or clocked-off finishing time, or to complete training relating to their employment without pay.

While widespread, wage theft is not gender neutral. The behaviour involved most commonly and most significantly affects low paid employees in part-time and casual work—all groups in which women predominate. It is also commonplace in industries in which women predominate such as hospitality and retail (NFAW, 2017, 1). While it disproportionately affects migrant workers, among migrant workers it disproportionately affects women (Berg and Farbenblum, 2017, 32)

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