How to recover unpaid wages in Australia: step-by-step underpayment claim
A clear, ordered path to reclaiming unpaid wages and overtime in Australia — from a written request to your employer, through the Fair Work Ombudsman, to a small claims application capped at $100,000. Deadlines and burden-of-proof rules included.
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- Pay Slip Errors: What to Do If Your Overtime Is MissingYour pay slip should account for every hour you worked, and your employer must issue one within one working day. If overtime is missing, here is the ordered, evidence-first way to fix it — and the records rule that can shift the burden of proof onto your employer.
- Enterprise Agreement Underpayment: How to Check and ClaimA registered enterprise agreement is legally binding — its rates, overtime and penalty terms are enforceable, and paying below them is an underpayment. Here is how to check your pay against the agreement and reclaim what you're owed, with the deadlines and burden-of-proof rules.
- How to Recover Unpaid Wages in Australia: Step-by-Step Underpayment ClaimA clear, ordered path to reclaiming unpaid wages and overtime in Australia — from a written request to your employer, through the Fair Work Ombudsman, to a small claims application capped at $100,000. Deadlines and burden-of-proof rules included.
- Negotiating Back Pay With Your Employer: Building Your CaseBefore litigation, most underpayment matters can be resolved directly — if you walk in with the numbers. Here is how to build the evidence base, quantify your claim on solid figures, and use the calm leverage points that Australian law gives you.
- Sham Contracting: When You're Wrongly Called a ContractorBeing labelled an independent contractor when you are really an employee strips away award minimums, the National Employment Standards and the National Minimum Wage. If you are truly an employee, those entitlements are due — and unpaid amounts are recoverable underpayments. Here is how to tell, and what to do.
- How to Make a Small Claims Wage Claim in AustraliaThe small claims procedure lets you recover unpaid wages up to $100,000 through a simplified, less formal court process. Here is what the Fair Work Act allows, what interest is excluded from the cap, and the claim data you need before you file.
- Fair Work Ombudsman: How It Can Help Recover Your WagesThe Fair Work Ombudsman is the free federal regulator that informs, mediates and can act on underpayments — the practical step between writing to your employer and going to court. Here is what it can do, what it cannot, and where it sits in the recovery path.
- The 6-Year Time Limit to Claim Unpaid WagesAustralian law gives you six years to claim unpaid wages and overtime — a long window, but one that closes pay period by pay period. Here is how the deadline works under the Fair Work Act, and why you should build a pay-by-pay schedule before the oldest hours lapse.
- Can You Get Interest and Penalties on Unpaid Wages?Beyond the wages themselves, a court can add interest and order pecuniary penalties. But neither has a fixed figure you can quote in advance — both are matters of judicial discretion. Here is how interest and penalties work under the Fair Work Act, and why they are leverage rather than a number.
- Your Right to Employee Records and Pay SlipsYour employer must keep employee records for seven years and give you a pay slip within one working day of paying you. These are legal obligations, not courtesies — and each breach is a civil remedy provision. Here is what the law requires, how to request your records, and what to do if you are refused.
- No Pay Records? The Law Puts the Burden on Your EmployerOne of the most powerful rules in Australian workplace law: if your employer failed to keep records or give pay slips, it is the employer — not you — who must disprove your claim. Here is how the reversed burden of proof works under art. 557C, and how to pair it with your own timestamped log of hours.
- How to Raise Unpaid Overtime With Your Employer (Before Going Legal)Most overtime disputes can — and should — start with a calm, well-documented conversation, not a court application. This step-by-step guide shows how to put your claim in writing, request the records that unlock your evidence, frame the amount, and signal your options without making threats.
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