Getting Paid The Right Wage

It’s not hard to figure out what wage you should be receiving – you don’t even have to talk to your boss to find out. All you gotta do is hop on to Fair Work Ombudsman and check out their pay calculator, which will work out what your award should be. Your award is what outlines your industry’s minimum wages, penalty rates and employment conditions, and is what your employer legally must abide by when deciding your wages.

It sucks when you find out you’re being ripped off, but there are two ways you can tackle the problem to ensure it doesn’t go on for any longer.
 

1. 1. Chat to your boss. Before you go pointing fingers, trash-talking your boss, or flipping tables and yelling “I QUIT!” across the office floor – stop. Give your boss the benefit of the doubt, they might not know they’ve been underpaying you. Just calmly sit them down and point out the problem and they might fix it right away. There is a process for back-paying employees who have been underpaid, which you can read about here.

 

1. 2. Talk to Fair Work Ombudsman. If your boss still refuses to change their ways, then it’s time for phase two: talk to Fair Work. You can lodge a concern anonymously against your workplace, or you can chat to an advisor by submitting an online enquiry or give them a buzz.

So you might be getting paid the right amount, but that doesn’t mean your employer is treating you the way they should. Whatever it is – bullying, being overworked, working in unsafe conditions or getting dismissed unfairly – you can contact the Fair Work Ombudsman about any of it. Visit this site to best decide what you need to do and who you need to talk to.

This information is intended to be general in nature only and might not apply to your personal circumstances. When in doubt always seek professional guidance.