Jay Weatherill appeals to Labor faithful by pledging country’s toughest wage theft laws

PREMIER Jay Weatherill has promised to introduce the toughest penalties in the country for wage theft.

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EMPLOYERS who repeatedly rip off their workers through underpayment and exploitation will face up to 15 years in prison, Labor has promised.

In one of the party’s first true election pledges before South Australians go to the polls on March 17, Premier Jay Weatherill has vowed to introduce the toughest “wage theft” penalties in the nation. His pledge follows a push by SA Unions, which argues wage theft — the repeated underpayment of wages and superannuation — has become endemic in Australia.

Mr Weatherill told the Sunday Mail there was growing evidence many thousands of SA workers were being ripped off, including those who were already vulnerable, particularly young people, migrants and those in insecure jobs.

“Wage theft doesn’t just hurt employees,” he said. “It enables dishonest businesses to undercut employers who do the right thing.”

CEPU officials Paul Scudds and John Adley with electricians Greg Clift and Michael Wicht. AAP Image/MATT LOXTON

SA Unions state secretary Joe Szakacs said a recent case, in which a private company in Adelaide was fined for not paying workers entitlements and super, was a prime example of wage theft.

SA Employment Tribunal deputy president Stephen Lieschke fined the company, Go Wasp Pty Ltd, $120,000, its directors Joseph Box $23,250 and Ben Wake $23,000, and awarded the workers $55,145. In his judgment, Mr Lieschke found the company, which hired electricians to install smart meters, and its directors had:

CONSISTENTLY failed to pay superannuation despite the payment appearing on pay slips;

FORCED a worker to use his own money for work purposes, including fuel, accommodation, food bills and work uniform, replace broken equipment and use his personal phone;

LAUGHED at a worker who asked to be reimbursed for accommodation on Kangaroo Island because they did not provide receipts;

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THREATENED workers who asked about overtime by telling them: “They could get on a plane and come home and that will be the end of their time with Go Wasp”; and

PROVIDED numerous excuses to workers who were attempting to find out about their unpaid entitlements.

Two of the electricians — Greg Clift, 33, of Dernancourt, and Michael Wicht, 31, of Findon — said the wage theft had a significant effect on their lives.

Mr Wicht, who is married with a two-year-old daughter, said: “We went a Christmas with no cash and that led into everything else.

“I had to go away for work, and leave the wife and child behind, to try and recoup my losses. Financially, it has taken 12 months to really get back on track.”

Communications Electrical Plumbing SA Unions secretary John Adley said that, for 12 months, the employers breached court orders and failed to either show up in court or provide evidence about what they had paid their workers.

Unions SA’s Mr Szakas said Labor’s proposed wage theft laws, which would come under the Criminal Law Consolidation Act, would act as a significant deterrent. Go Wasp could not be contacted for comment.