What would you do? Being illegally underpaid.

Efaol89

I have been working as a sales assistant in a shop in Victoria since April. I get paid $15 an hour TFN. I presumed I was a part time employee and as I am finishing this week i asked my employer how much holiday pay was I owed..he said I am a casual employee and therefore am not owed any holiday pay. I rang Fair Work Australia and they said because I am a casual employee who opens and closes the store and works unsupervised i should have been getting paid $20.83p.h. before july 1st and $21.70p.h. since then. The only reason I am hesitating to present this information to my boss is that I am about 99.9% sure he already knows this and I get on well with him he has been a good employer to me. They are having a party for me and getting me a small gift and I feel bad for bringing this up at the end of my employment. I did suspect I wasn't being paid the correct amount but didn't realise that it is over $1000 he owes me. Fairwork Oz says he need to backpay me the money? What would you do??????

rightyabe

If your leaving the job anyway, what are the chances you'll meet him or his family ever again?

If you think you won't see them again than I would go ahead and try and get me $1,000, its not like you're not owed it.

hussey

You can be a good Samaritan and ignore it, or you can claim the money you are entitled to.

at the end of the day it is your decision - but most people would tell you to get the money

Efaol89

Yep..both valid points. I'm just going have to man up and ask him about it and hopefully he pays me and it doesn't have to go any further..because I really don't want to have to report him.
Thanks guys..

old_aussie

Is the $15 per hr. pre tax or after tax is taken out?

Efaol89

Pre-tax

ellaq

I think as a store owner he knows what he is doing, and if not he should. But if you don't challenge him for underpayment he is just going to do the same thing to the next person that works for him.

If he really is a decent person he will rectify his mistakes and not do it again.

old_aussie

Australian Minimum wage appears to be $15.51 ph

How old are you OP?

http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/national-minimum-wage/pages/default.aspx

Zambia

Is that just should or should legally if you accepted the wage I Dont see how you can claim more later?

hussey

old_aussie wrote: »

Australian Minimum wage appears to be $15.51 ph

How old are you OP?

http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/national-minimum-wage/pages/default.aspx

Yes that is true, but doesn't take into account all factors.
since they performs certain duties they are entitled to more.
e.g. a pay scale summary here :
http://www.fairwork.gov.au/2007payscalesummaries/AN120123.pdf

the $15.51 does not apply to all jobs

Efaol89

Old Aussie: I am a 21 years old. As I explained above I am a casual employee. Casual employees must legally be paid casual loading (at least 20% more) on top of their of their hourly rate (which wouldn't be 15 for me anyway) as they do not have job security or any other entitlements.The casual loading compensates them for entitlements they do not receive such as paid annual leave and paid personal leave. That link is not even relevant to any specific sector. They don't just generalise a minimum wage across all sectors and positions. Also, they have informed me that as I open and close the store and work unsupervised that also pushes my wage up legally. Fair Work Australia provided this information to me so I reckon that they might know what they're talking about.

Zambia: They should legally. Its not a case of accepting fifteen dollars an hour. I didn't sign a contract. I haven't done anything wrong. Its about an employers responsibility to know the correct wage to pay their staff. Once again, Fair Work Australia have told me that my employer must backpay what he owes me. They are the national workplace relations tribunal so they should a fair idea?

Zambia

Efaol89 wrote: »

Zambia: They should legally. Its not a case of accepting fifteen dollars an hour. I didn't sign a contract. I haven't done anything wrong. Its about an employers responsibility to know the correct wage to pay their staff. Once again, Fair Work Australia have told me that my employer must backpay what he owes me. They are the national workplace relations tribunal so they should a fair idea?

Yeah I get all that but how are fair work Australia going to assist you in getting this cash? Are fair work going to sue him for you. Will your work mates have to give evidence of your extra duties etc. This is of course if he says no to back pay.

If you can get all this money back sure go for it. Its a great way to have been racking up savings. Its a hard conversation to have, so best of luck with it.

Efaol89

Thanks. I'm not really sure what the procedure is if he says he won't backpay it. I'm hoping it won't come to that..

lg123

this thread might be worth reading.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=71610678

imo you are daft if you dont tackle him about this, its business afterall, its your holiday pay thats going straight onto his bottom line.
$15ph is a poor rate considering the living costs in australia. as ellaq said, if he is a good guy you will get your cheque no hassle.

Ozeire

Efaol89 The money is yours and owed to you . If you don't ask him for it he'll do the exact same to the next person who works for him. After all you done a fair days work so you deserve a fair days pay. Plus most of the time casual workers get paid more than full time employees.

Check out http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au/Jobs+&+Careers/Employment+rights/Casual+work/

Just because you accepted below min wages doesn't make him right and you wrong. Min wages are there to stop people taking advantage of others and that's exactly what he was doing. What he was doing was keeping you on a low wage so you wouldn't exceed the $450 a month so he didn't have to contribute to your Superannuation

Just speak to him and explain that you have talked it over with legal professional and they advised you that you are owed money and if he is unwilling to pay, you will have to take it further.

Helpful links

http://www.jobwatch.org.au/
http://www.youthcentral.vic.gov.au
http://www.fairwork.gov.au/

Vodkat

Efaol89 wrote: »

I have been working as a sales assistant in a shop in Victoria since April. I get paid $15 an hour TFN. I presumed I was a part time employee and as I am finishing this week i asked my employer how much holiday pay was I owed..he said I am a casual employee and therefore am not owed any holiday pay. I rang Fair Work Australia and they said because I am a casual employee who opens and closes the store and works unsupervised i should have been getting paid $20.83p.h. before july 1st and $21.70p.h. since then. The only reason I am hesitating to present this information to my boss is that I am about 99.9% sure he already knows this and I get on well with him he has been a good employer to me. They are having a party for me and getting me a small gift and I feel bad for bringing this up at the end of my employment. I did suspect I wasn't being paid the correct amount but didn't realise that it is over $1000 he owes me. Fairwork Oz says he need to backpay me the money? What would you do??????

You obviously value him a lot more than he values you. You dont want to fcuk him over yet he is willing to do it to you! You should get what your owed no questions asked and if he refuses you should take it further.

In The Sticks

Efaol89 wrote: »

I have been working as a sales assistant in a shop in Victoria since April. I get paid $15 an hour TFN. I presumed I was a part time employee and as I am finishing this week i asked my employer how much holiday pay was I owed..he said I am a casual employee and therefore am not owed any holiday pay. I rang Fair Work Australia and they said because I am a casual employee who opens and closes the store and works unsupervised i should have been getting paid $20.83p.h. before july 1st and $21.70p.h. since then. The only reason I am hesitating to present this information to my boss is that I am about 99.9% sure he already knows this and I get on well with him he has been a good employer to me. They are having a party for me and getting me a small gift and I feel bad for bringing this up at the end of my employment. I did suspect I wasn't being paid the correct amount but didn't realise that it is over $1000 he owes me. Fairwork Oz says he need to backpay me the money? What would you do??????

Quote "I get on well with him he has been a good employer to me", Where does that quote fit into...I am owed over $1,000 and I am afraid to ask for it. I think this guy took you for a ride, screw him for as much as you can get, He sounds like a proper d**k head. Best of luck.

Efaol89

Thanks everyone! I had the dreaded conversation with him yesterday and he guilt-tripped the s**t out of me..but i stood my ground and in the end he said i'll see what i can do. haven't heard anything since so i might have to keep chasing him. Will let everyone know how i go.

lg123

well done

Efaol89

Just in case people wanted to know what happened.....
I confronted my boss , we had a huge argument where he basically tried to guilt trip me into backing down. In the end I said, "Look, someone else is going end up doing this to you, i'm not going to be the only one who stands for this..you need to sort out your wages and whats legal etc". He said he would get back to me with a compromise. He knew i was leaving the country and obviously decided to wait it out. I followed the correct action advised by fairwork oz and sent him a 'letter of demand'. I sent by registered post as proof. He never collected the letter from the post office. I returned to Ireland and sent an identical letter, he never collected this either.
I could have reported him but decided i didn't want his business shut down and risk the people i had worked with losing their jobs so i let it go.
Maddening, i often think of sending him a letter giving him a piece of my mind. And a**hole can get rich by screwing their employees, he has nothing to be proud of.

lg123

follow it up with fair work australia. you are not going to close his business down just reduce HIS profit margins.

i think your old friends there would appreciate not being underpaid.

Efaol89

I think I have decided to let it go.
Although it was his second business, it was just starting out and didn't make a massive profit at all. If he was paying me back plus everyone else i know that business wouldn't be left standing.
Maybe I'm wrong to let it go but i think that its the right decision for me.

Pisco Sour

Efaol89 wrote: »

I think I have decided to let it go.
Although it was his second business, it was just starting out and didn't make a massive profit at all. If he was paying me back plus everyone else i know that business wouldn't be left standing.
Maybe I'm wrong to let it go but i think that its the right decision for me.

No it's not. It's a terrible decision. Get what you are owed. Think of yourself for once.

I was being robbed blind early in my WHV and I didnt think twice about turning the See You Next Tuesdays in. Got every last cent back off them that they owed me (they were smart enough to pay up before I took it further though).

Efaol89

I might try texting him and say there are 2 letters waiting at the post office for you that need to be signed for?

Pisco Sour

Efaol89 wrote: »

I might try texting him and say there are 2 letters waiting at the post office for you that need to be signed for?

He'll just ignore that also. He's hoping you just forget about it all and his plan seems to be working. Stand up for yourself. Lodge a report to Fair Work Ombudsman and let them take care of it. You'll have your money within a few months.

Any other coarse of action on your part is simply stupid and illogical.

lg123

04072511 wrote: »

He'll just ignore that also. He's hoping you just forget about it all and his plan seems to be working. Stand up for yourself. Lodge a report to Fair Work Ombudsman and let them take care of it. You'll have your money within a few months.

Any other coarse of action on your part is simply stupid and illogical.

i have to agree, you must be loaded to be taking this approach Efaol.

Efaol89

Just letting everyone know I am currently negotiating with them how much they will be depositing into my bank account tomorrow!!!
Thanks for all the great info and advice!