Pay Issues (1 Viewer)

[Cleavage]

Having started employment at a NSW hospitality business, I believe I've been underpaid.

I'm yet to be paid extra for work on Sundays, and public holidays 26/12/14 and 1/1/15. Does anybody know the specific award I should refer to, when arguing this with my employers? Is anybody aware of any other payments I am entitled to?

I can inbox specific details, I've kept a log of my work undertaken in the past month.

 

[Cleavage]

I've done a bit of researching, and I'm protected under the "Resturants, & C., Employees (State) Award [AN120468 - NSW]" - www.airc.gov.au/UpdatedAwards/AN120468.rtf - but I can't find the penalty rate for Saturday and Sunday payments. I'm a casual grade 1 employee.

 

[gosfa747]

try looking at fairwork australia

 

[seremify007]

are they at least paying you as per the award (and you're getting any other entitlements/benefits stipulated)? i'm not very knowledgeable in this field at all but the key thing is to make sure you have accurate records retained.

 

[Cleavage]

are they at least paying you as per the award (and you're getting any other entitlements/benefits stipulated)? i'm not very knowledgeable in this field at all but the key thing is to make sure you have accurate records retained.

They are paying me above the minimum specified by the award, and I've received breaks according to the award. But in terms of other entitlements, such as a food allowance for breaks, I haven't been offered them. However, the only thing I'm really interested in is attaining the money owed from unpaid penalty rates, which contributes to around $600 if I calculated correctly. Working for a small business, I had a suspicion something like this might happen. As such, I have kept a log of all my hours worked, on what days, and my payslips to date.

Is there any other record which would assist my claim?

 

[Chronost]

They are paying me above the minimum specified by the award, and I've received breaks according to the award. But in terms of other entitlements, such as a food allowance for breaks, I haven't been offered them. However, the only thing I'm really interested in is attaining the money owed from unpaid penalty rates, which contributes to around $600 if I calculated correctly. Working for a small business, I had a suspicion something like this might happen. As such, I have kept a log of all my hours worked, on what days, and my payslips to date.

Is there any other record which would assist my claim?

I'm not sure if it's correct but casuals don't have be paid a penalty rate on saturday/sundays on most occasions...at least when I worked at Mcdonalds this was the case which is a similar industry to yours, however with holidays there should be some penalty rate, always worth checking these things, it could be all that free money which you've stated after all.

 

[Cleavage]

I'm not sure if it's correct but casuals don't have be paid a penalty rate on saturday/sundays on most occasions...at least when I worked at Mcdonalds this was the case which is a similar industry to yours, however with holidays there should be some penalty rate, always worth checking these things, it could be all that free money which you've stated after all.

But if it is outlined specifically in the award, which they specifically told me I am to be paid by in the terms and conditions of employment document ... surely I am warranted to these penalty rates.

 

[T_Knight]

But if it is outlined specifically in the award, which they specifically told me I am to be paid by in the terms and conditions of employment document ... surely I am warranted to these penalty rates.

On face value, sounds like there taking advantage of your naivety and inexperience. Do they issue you with a weekly payslip or just pay you via bank transfer/cash-in-hand? The payslip should explicitly show your pay rates across periods such as sundays and public holidays (which can be used as evidence to fairwork aust that you're being underpaid)

However, personally it would be wise to keep quiet about it for now, just keep recording all your shift details & payments recieved. Because:
1) You're a casual and given no more shifts at the drop of a hat (casuals aren't guaranteed ANY future shifts beyond the next one)
2) Being new, youre probably still in a 'probationary' period for 3-6 months meaning you can be terimated for 'performance issues' very easily (e.g a couple of 'verbal warnings' in which they pin you for anything minor e.g. being 2 minutes late)

So, best to keep your records as mentioned above. And continue to build relationships with them so you can later ask about contracts, penalty rates down the track when they're more comfortable with you (sometimes managers/owners are just skeptical of all new employees who are too fussy/unreliable and don't last long before leaving)

 

[Cleavage]

On face value, sounds like there taking advantage of your naivety and inexperience. Do they issue you with a weekly payslip or just pay you via bank transfer/cash-in-hand? The payslip should explicitly show your pay rates across periods such as sundays and public holidays (which can be used as evidence to fairwork aust that you're being underpaid)

However, personally it would be wise to keep quiet about it for now, just keep recording all your shift details & payments recieved. Because:
1) You're a casual and given no more shifts at the drop of a hat (casuals aren't guaranteed ANY future shifts beyond the next one)
2) Being new, youre probably still in a 'probationary' period for 3-6 months meaning you can be terimated for 'performance issues' very easily (e.g a couple of 'verbal warnings' in which they pin you for anything minor e.g. being 2 minutes late)

So, best to keep your records as mentioned above. And continue to build relationships with them so you can later ask about contracts, penalty rates down the track when they're more comfortable with you (sometimes managers/owners are just skeptical of all new employees who are too fussy/unreliable and don't last long before leaving)

Cheers for the advice.

I do receive payslips, which I've collected.

I'm in an incredibly fortunate situation, where I actually planned to quit by mid February (I'm moving out of my family's home) before I attained this job. I'm happy to go "all guns blazing" and whatnot (It'd actually be fun), because of this exact point.

Talking to a colleague, he specifically asked regarding this issue. The manager had asked him to work on a day incurring a penalty rate, to which he replied "my services are worth 2.5x on a public holiday, you pay me at that rate or I don't work". So, my manager simply didn't roster him on for the shift. However, most of the other people I've spoken to, simply don't even pay enough attention to their pay, to notice this discrepancy.

Ultimately, I'll quit immediately after finding work in/close to the CBD. Afterwards, I'll write a letter, referencing the award and the discrepancies between my pay and what I'm to be paid. If managment doesn't respond in a timely or professional matter, I'll contact FairWork Australia.

Is this a good strategy? I think this is the best way to avoid confrontation. Are there any other bodies that I can contact for advice/support, perhaps more relevant? I'm not a member of the union.