Underpaid? You can go back six years.

Check your pay

• Find the instrument that sets your pay. That is usually an award, or an enterprise agreement if one applies to you. See which award are you on.
• Find your classification in it. Your level sets your base rate, so check that its description matches the work you actually do, not just your job title.
• Look past the hourly rate. Penalty rates for weekends, public holidays and late shifts, overtime, casual loading and allowances are all separate entitlements, and each is easy to miss on a pay slip.
• Compare against what you actually worked, using rosters, timesheets, your own diary, texts or app records.

The Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool calculates award rates, penalties and allowances.

Your employer's records

Your employer must keep employee records for 7 years and give you a pay slip within one working day of paying you. You can ask for your records.

This matters in a claim. If your employer did not keep the records or give the pay slips the law requires, then in a claim about underpayment the employer has to disprove what you say, unless it has a reasonable excuse.

How to claim it back

• Put it in writing. Say what you believe is owed, how you calculated it, and a date by which you want it paid. The Fair Work Ombudsman suggests a follow-up letter saying you are considering legal action before you file.
• Ask the Fair Work Ombudsman for help (13 13 94). Its dispute assistance is free.
• Use the small claims procedure in a state or territory local or magistrates court, or the Federal Circuit and Family Court. It covers up to $100,000 plus interest. The court runs it informally, without strict rules of evidence, and lawyers can appear only with the court's permission. If you win, the court can order your employer to repay your filing fee.

Unpaid superannuation is different: it is chased through the Australian Taxation Office, not the Fair Work Ombudsman or small claims.

Name your employer by its legal name (the company or person on your pay slips or the ABN record), not its trading name.

When underpayment is a crime

Since 1 January 2025, an employer that intentionally underpays wages or entitlements can be charged with a criminal offence. The maximum penalty for an individual is 10 years in prison, and the maximum fine is the greater of three times the underpayment and a fixed amount (5,000 penalty units for an individual, 25,000 for a company). Honest mistakes are not criminal. Charges are brought by the Commonwealth prosecutor or the Australian Federal Police, and the Fair Work Ombudsman can refer cases to them. The Ombudsman will not refer a small business that has complied with the Voluntary Small Business Wage Compliance Code.

You do not need to prove intent to get your money back. A claim for unpaid wages is a civil claim, whatever the employer meant.

If they push back

Asking about or complaining about your pay is a workplace right. Your employer cannot sack you, cut your shifts or otherwise act against you because you raised it. If that happens, read general protections: if you are sacked, the deadline is 21 days.

What the law says

• ss 544, 545(5) the 6-year time limits
• s 548 small claims procedure, the $100,000 limit, lawyers by leave, filing fees
• ss 535, 536 records kept for 7 years, pay slips within one working day
• s 557C the employer bears the burden if it failed to keep records or give pay slips
• s 327A the criminal offence for intentional underpayment
• ss 340, 341 protection for making a complaint or inquiry

Sections are of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). The start date of the criminal offence, its referral process and the small business code are from the Fair Work Ombudsman.

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