Wage Theft

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (15:49): I rise to speak on the issue of wage theft. I have brought this issue to the attention of this house many times. Almost two weeks ago, a video emerged of two workers who were assaulted as a result of speaking to their employer about their experience of wage theft within the workplace. Since the video was released, a groundswell of media attention and community mobilisation has brought the issue of wage theft to the public's attention.

Yet, as with most other industrial relations matters, both the state and federal Liberal governments' willingness to do anything on the issue leaves a lot to be desired. The video was horrifying but unfortunately it was far from surprising. For over two years now, the wage theft committee has heard evidence of egregious acts, some similar to the one in the video, of wage theft within our state. In South Australia there have been reports of:

workers who are paid with vouchers;

workers receiving less than $10 an hour, some as low as $1 an hour;

employers not paying superannuation and other entitlements;

trainees not being paid for weeks and even months;

apprentices doing the work of skilled tradespeople and being paid significantly less because they have the title of apprentice; and

even employees being made redundant due to COVID, only to see their position advertised the following week at a significantly lower rate and with fewer rights and entitlements.

These are not instances of honest mistakes or administrative errors. These are deliberate underpayments to workers—deliberate underpayments that purely benefit the employer and disadvantage workers, and also disadvantage businesses that are playing by the rules.

It does not matter if you are a hairdresser, an administrative assistant, a labourer, a retail worker, a farmhand, a carer, a hospitality worker, a tradesperson or an apprentice. No-one is immune. We know the issue of wage theft is not isolated to one workplace or one region. It is widespread and in epidemic proportions. The power balance between employers and employees is not a relationship between equals and the inequality of that relationship is increasing to the detriment of the workplace.

Employers who use wage theft as a business model know that the system works in their favour. They understand that current reporting systems like SafeWork SA and the Fair Work Ombudsman are understaffed and under-resourced. Employers who use wage theft as a business model know that the penalties for them are so low that it is worth committing wage theft to gain a quick competitive advantage and deal with the minimal repercussions later.

Threatening behaviour from employers such as the video demonstrated or the fear of losing visa rights, fear of losing entitlements, hours of work or losing your job completely, prevents workers from speaking about their experience of wage theft. This threatening behaviour is now extending beyond the workplace. Last week, an international student, whose name I will keep off the record for their safety, contacted the Adelaide City Council via email over concerns that fellow students of his were victims of wage theft within the City of Adelaide. For raising concerns, the student was threatened with defamation by Councillor Simon Hou.

We should be encouraging people to speak up about their experiences, not threatening them with monetary penalties with the aim of silencing a voice. It is the obligation of all of us to have open and frank discussions about these issues in order to work towards a fairer and adaptable workplace. Threats and intimidation, when individuals or groups voice their experiences or concerns, are not only not good politics but need to be called out and addressed.