How to Raise Unpaid Overtime With Your Employer (Before Going Legal)

Never raise a pay claim only in conversation. Put it in writing — email is fine — and keep a copy. Set out plainly:

• the period in question;
• the hours you worked but were not paid for; and
• the amounts you believe you are owed.

Keeping proof that you sent it matters. If the matter later goes to the Fair Work Ombudsman or a court, a dated written trail is far stronger than a recollection of a hallway conversation.

In the same written request, ask for your employee records and pay slips. This is not just tidy — it is strategic. Your employer:

• must make and keep employee records for 7 years (art. 535); and
• must give you a pay slip within one working day of paying you (art. 536).

Requesting these documents does two things at once. If your employer produces them, you can reconcile them against your own log and pinpoint exactly where the overtime was missed. If your employer cannot produce them — because the records were never kept — then in any later proceedings the employer bears the burden of disproving your allegation about hours and amounts (art. 557C). Either way, the request surfaces the evidence or shifts the burden. There is no downside to asking.

Nothing undermines a claim faster than an inflated number. Frame the amount on solid ground:

• The certain floor is 1:1. The value you can state with confidence is the unpaid hours at your ordinary rate — the hours you worked and were not paid for, valued at your normal hourly rate. That claim does not depend on any award.
• Check it against the National Minimum Wage. As a floor, the National Minimum Wage is $26.44 per hour from 1 July 2026 ([2026] FWCFB 3500). Your ordinary rate should be your real contractual (or award) rate, but never below this minimum.
• The overtime multiplier depends on your award. Any overtime rate — a 150% or 200% multiplier, or a weekend, night or public-holiday penalty rate — comes from the modern award or enterprise agreement that applies to your classification, not from the law. So you can flag that an award multiplier is likely due, but you should not put a specific percentage on it until the applicable modern award is identified. If you are unsure which award covers you, say so plainly — "subject to the overtime rate in the applicable award" — rather than guessing a figure.

Framing the amount this way makes your claim credible: a certain floor you can defend, plus an honestly signalled award component still to be confirmed.

You want your employer to fix this voluntarily, so keep the tone constructive. You can make clear you understand your options without issuing threats:

• The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) provides free information and can mediate — a natural next step if the conversation stalls.
• The small claims procedure (art. 548) is a simplified court route for amounts up to $100,000, if it comes to that.

Mentioning these is not a threat; it is context. Most employers would rather resolve a documented, reasonable claim early than have it escalate to the regulator or a court.

There is a genuine urgency to act, and it is fair to note it. An application may be made only within 6 years after the day the contravention occurred (art. 544), and each unpaid pay period runs its own six-year clock — so the oldest hours drop off first. Raising the issue now, in writing, protects the earliest and most vulnerable part of your claim.

A good first-step approach looks like this: a written, dated claim setting out period, hours and amounts; a request for your records and pay slips (which either produces evidence or triggers art. 557C); an honestly framed figure — the certain 1:1 floor at your ordinary rate, at least the $26.44 minimum, plus a flagged award multiplier still to be confirmed; a calm signal of your FWO and small claims options; and an eye on the six-year window. That is a claim an employer can act on — and one you can carry forward, unchanged, if they do not.