Madeleine Harradence, Assistant Secretary of ANMF (Vic Branch)
Members are entitled to be paid each fortnight on a weekday, not more than 5 days after the end of the fortnightly pay period.
The 2020-24 public sector nurses and midwives enterprise agreement and the Fair Work Act and regulations set out an employer’s obligations with respect to pay slips, including but not limited to a requirement to specify:
- the period to which the pay slip relates
- the amount of wages to which the employee is entitled
- if an amount was deducted from the gross amount of the payment, the name or the name and number of the fund or account into which the deduction was paid
- the net amount for each payment.
If the payroll system can, payslips should also record your accrued annual leave and personal leave.
In any event your employer is obliged to keep accurate records of leave, and you are entitled to inspect and copy your leave records. These must record any leave you take and the balance (if any) of your entitlement to that leave.
What if I am underpaid?
You should receive all your wages, penalties and allowances for the pay period in the following fortnight’s pay.
Where an underpayment of wages occurs because your employer has made an error, involving 2.5% or more of your after tax weekly wage, you must notify your employer, request an offline payment, and your employer must rectify the payment within 24 hours.
The email should identify you, the pay period the underpayment relates to, and with as much details as possible, identify the exact underpayment/s.
Except in cases of hardship, amounts less than 2.5% will be processed in your next pay period. Where you notify your employer of hardship in respect of an amount owing less than 2.5%, your employer should make its best endeavours to make the payment owing as soon as possible.
Your employer will notify you of the adjustment being processed and provide the date of payment and any payment identification details.
The timeframes to resolve an underpayment issue may be longer where:
- you and your employer are in genuine dispute as to whether the monies are owed to you
- the underpayment is the result of an error by you
- the reason for the underpayment is an unforeseen event or circumstance outside the control of the employer, frustrating their ability to meet the requirements of this clause.
What if my employer does not comply?
If your employer does not comply with the above, that could put them in breach of the enterprise agreement. Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (Act) contravening an enterprise agreement can result in orders for compensation and pecuniary penalty orders. Failing to comply with an enterprise agreement can have severe financial consequences for your employer. But those cases need to go to court, and can take a very long time, and meanwhile you still haven’t been fully paid.
An alternate approach, if you carefully follow the enterprise agreement dispute resolution procedure, is ANMF can approach your employer as your representative, and if unresolved make an application to the Fair Work Commission. If the Commission makes orders regarding your underpayment, failure to comply with those orders can result in further penalties against the employer. But is also means that your employer is in the Commission, and unlikely to expose themselves to further penalties, and will quickly rectify the underpayment.
How do I get the ANMF to take my underpayment to Fair Work Australia?
The first hurdle for ANMF is that you must have strictly complied with the dispute resolution procedure in the EBA.
- In the first instance you need to have ‘discussions’ between you and your line manager (or other relevant manager); by agreement this discussion can be in writing, but if there isn’t agreement you need to make a reasonable documented attempt to hold discussions with your manager, or payroll, or preferably both.
- if the dispute is still unresolved, you should attempt discussions between more senior managers, and again document those attempts.
- If you haven’t already done so, make a member assistance inquiry via our online form.
If the dispute cannot be resolved at the workplace it may then be referred by ANMF to the Commission for conciliation and, if the matter in dispute remains unresolved, arbitration. If you do not make every effort to follow these steps, your employer can make a ‘jurisdictional’ argument to the Commission that the Commission has no power to be involved. However, if your employer fails to properly cooperate, ANMF can work through this in the Commission.
You will be released from normal duties as is reasonably necessary to enable you to participate in this dispute settling procedure so long as it does not unduly affect the operations of the employer.
Example first email re underpayment
To: “immediate manager” “Payroll”
cc: records@anmfvic.asn.au
Re: Underpayment of wages
I write to formally request that I receive an offline payment to rectify an underpayment I am owed.
In pay period ending xx/xx I was not paid two night shift penalties that I worked.
I request that this underpayment be rectified as soon as possible, (if less than 2.5% of your after tax salary, explain if the underpayment has caused you hardship)
I am happy to meet at a mutually acceptable time, should you require this.
Example second email re underpayment
To: “HR manager” “Payroll Manager”
cc: records@anmfvic.asn.au
Re: Underpayment of wages
I write further to my email of xx date to formally escalate my request that I receive an offline payment to rectify an underpayment I am owed.
In pay period ending xx/xx I was not paid two night shift penalties that I worked.
I requested that this underpayment be rectified as soon as possible, (if less than 2.5% of your after tax salary, explain that it has caused you hardship) however (I received no response/my underpayment was disputed). I am happy to meet at a mutually acceptable time, should you require this.
I again request that the underpayment be rectified as soon as possible.
What if my employment has ended and I am still owed money?
Where you employer terminates you with notice, payment of all wages and other monies owing to you will be made to you on or before your final day of work.
When you give notice of termination of employment, payment of all wages and other monies owing to you will be made as soon as practicable but not later than the ordinary pay day following the end of employment.
If this payment does not rectify any underpayment concerns, you should make a member assistance inquiry via our online form.
ANMF will assist you to make an underpayment claim against your employer.