Wage Theft Legislation in Australia

What are the differences between the Wage Theft Act in Victoria and the proposed new federal laws and what is the likely impact on businesses to achieve compliance? Must be in AGLC4 referencing style. 1 Research Question
What are the differences between the Wage Theft Act in Victoria and the proposed new federal laws and what is the likely impact on businesses to achieve compliance?

2 Objective of the research
The objective of this paper is to critique the differences between the Victorian Wage Theft legislation and the prosed new federal laws and the outline the likely impact on businesses for businesses achieving compliance.

The paper will define wage theft and the magnitude of the issue in Australia and compare the state and federal (including the Fair Work Act and proposed new federal legislation) and the likely impact on businesses.

By examining these pieces of legislation in conjunction with supporting case law and legal articles and submissions to Parliament, it is anticipated that a clear and concise answer to the research question will be evident.

3 Proposed headings
1) Introduction
2) Wage theft and the magnitude of the issue in Australia ;
3) Overview of existing legislation and policy;
a. Jurisdictional issues between State and Federal Legislation;
4) The impact of the legislation on Victorian businesses;
5) Business considerations and likely responses to ensure compliance.
6) Conclusion

4 Background/context
Wage theft is defined as a non-payment of entitlements and minimum wages that are lawfully owed to a worker. In recent times, several high-profile organisations such as Bunnings, 7-Eleven, Qantas, Woolworths, Commonwealth Bank and Sunglasses Hut have admitted to wage underpayments to staff. A PwC estimates submission in 2019 suggested that the annual amount in unpaid wages could be as high as $1.35 million and affect up to 21 per cent of workers, particularly in high risk industries such as construction, retail, healthcare and food service. Furthermore, it is estimated that in the 2016-2017 financial year, 2.85 million Australian workers were underpaid $5.9 billion in superannuation entitlements.
Capturing the different scope of the state and proposed federal legislation is paramount to this investigation. The concept of dishonesty in the Wage Theft Act includes not only intention of deliberate underpayment, but also reckless failure of corporate culture. The proposed federal offence is much narrower; whereby the civil penalty provisions under the Fair Work Act, however the new IR Reform Bill introduced by government proposes criminal penalties.
The strengthening of these laws has been advocated for some time by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and culminated in the submission to the Senate Economics Committee of the Australian Parliament in March 2020. The overarching argument suggested is that wage theft in Australia has become a business model.
5 Approach
This paper will adopt the legal doctrinal research methodology and as such will investigate case law, legislation, legal scholarly writing and policy. Other research methods, including case studies or surveys are inappropriate toward satisfying the research aim.

This is deemed the most appropriate methodology to ensure that the gathered information is reviewed from an impartial, legal position so that any gaps between state and federal jurisdictions can be identified to ultimately make recommendations to businesses to achieve compliance.

A hybrid approach will be employed by analysing legislation and case law. Examining the current relevant provisions in the Fair Work Act and critiquing its differences to the Wage Theft Act will allow a comprehensive analysis to be performed. Whilst a national Wage Theft Bill is currently before Parliament, it is important to delineate the obligations to businesses between the laws applying in different jurisdictions and formulate recommendations how they can prepare an optimum response for compliance.

To further support this research, and compliment the primary legislation and case law, there is a vast array of academic literature such as ‘The living wage crisis in Australian industrial relations’ considers the dimensions of the issue and policy reform recommendations and secondary materials including the ACTU submission, a report generated by McKell Institute Victoria relating to ending wage theft and a book published by the University of Adelaide, The Wage Crisis in Australia, will be used.

It is also important to note that the IR Reform Bill is currently before Parliament at the time of writing; there may be more up-to-date information available when the research paper is written. The interplay between the proposed federal legislation and the Victorian legislation will be canvassed.

Wage theft has been a highly debated topic in Australia and in turn, there are many sources to provide excellent background information, such as editorials and news articles. There will need to be careful attention paid to the subjective nature of these sources and only utilise these as a means of providing a background rather than influence the doctrinal research methodology.
6 Timing plan:
? Week 4: 13 December 2020; Research Proposal completed;
? Week 5: Review and explanation of wage theft and the magnitude of the issue in Australia;
? Week 7: Complete examination and overview of existing legislation and policy, including comparison of the Wage Theft Act the Fair Work Act and the proposed federal legislation;
? Week 8:; Review and detail the impact of the Wage Theft Act on Victorian businesses and complete the business considerations and appropriate responses to ensure compliance;
? Week 9: Complete introduction and conclusion. Submit first draft to project supervisor;
? Weeks 11 and 12: Perform any final changes to paper in preparation for submission.

7 List of key resources
Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2020

Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)

Wage Theft Act 2020 (Vic)

Edward Cavanough & Lachlan Blain, Ending Wage Theft: Eradicating Underpayment in the Australian Workplace, (The McKell Institute Victoria, March 2019)

Australian Council of Trade Unions, Wage Theft: The exploitation of workers is widespread and has become a business model. Submission by the Australian Council of Trade Unions to the Senate Economics Committee of the Australian Parliament Inquiry into the Unlawful Underpayment of Employees’ Remuneration, 6 March 2020.

Andrew Stewart, Jim Stanford & Tess Hardy, The Wages Crisis in Australia: What it is and what to do about it (University of Adelaide Press, 1st ed, 2018) 174.

Louise Thornthwaite, ‘The living wage crisis in Australian industrial relations’(Labour & industry: a journal of the social and economic relations of work (2017) 274, 261-269.

Need to include more scholarly articles. Google Scholar?

Must have Case Law included!!!!!

Please look at these for references and must be AGLC4 referencing style.

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6653

https://www.attorneygeneral.gov.au/media/media-releases/industrial-relations-reform-supporting-jobs-and-our-economic-recovery-9-december-2020