Good fkn news: Wage theft is now a crime in Victoria, which means bosses who deliberately and dishonestly steal workers’ wages can be criminally prosecuted. HUGE.
We’ve seen it time and time again, workers (particularly in the hospo/retail industry) are underpaid by their employers and exploited for their labour *cough* George Calombaris *cough*.
Everyone has a story where they were paid well below minimum wage to work at a Café with a dumb pun as its name. We stay at the job because we need money to live and asking to be paid fairly means you could potentially lose your job.
If you steal from your boss, you can face jail time.
But if your boss steals from you – well, it feels like they only get a slap on the wrist.
That’s not right. At all.
So we did something about it. pic.twitter.com/6ROMA3m1aG
— Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) July 1, 2021
Well that’s exactly what happened to hospo worker, Anna, who helped fight for this new law. In 2018, Anna was fired from her workplace for asking for fair pay. She then fought back with her union Hospo Voice and actually won back her stolen wages.
“For too long, hospo workers have had to risk our incomes and safety, just to get our legally-owed stolen wages. When I was underpaid by my bosses, I had the weird experience of feeling powerless and alone, but also aware that thousands of others were in the exact same situation,” she said.
“Our collective power is now going to see workers’ rights upheld across Victoria, a state famous globally for its hospitality experiences.”
As of July 1 2021, it’s a crime for an employer in Victoria to:
- deliberately underpay employees
- dishonestly withhold wages, superannuation or other employee entitlements
- falsify employee entitlement records to gain a financial advantage
- avoid keeping employee entitlement records to gain a financial advantage
If your employer does any of these things, they could face a fine of up to $218,088 or even up to 10 years’ jail time.
To report suspected wage theft, you can submit an online form through the Victorian government website here.
Know your rights and if you can, join a union.
