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Employee Underpayment - Australia Service Sheet

Risk, Compliance, Investigations and Communication

Employee underpayments present significant risks for Australian organisations. Complex and changing rules to modern awards and enterprise agreements can result in misclassification of employee entitlements. If underpayments occur, your organisation could face the risk of employee legal action, a Fair Work Ombudsman investigation, government intervention, civil and criminal penalties, negative media attention or action by union and other stakeholders.

FTI Consulting helps organisations assess the corporate risks of employee underpayments, investigate and quantify instances of underpayments, communicate outcomes, and improve processes to ensure the issue does not recur.

Key Services

Assessing Underpayment Risks

Experience across range of industries
Liaising directly with legal (in house or external) to understand complexities
Health check payroll process to understand all available data

Implementing Compliance Frameworks

Formulating award interpretation flow charts
Centralising and linking essential data sources
Ensuring systems calculate entitlements in accordance with award obligations
Training staff in the risks and consequences of underpayments
Communicating corporate policies and procedures to stakeholders
Periodically reviewing payroll compliance

Investigating Allegations of Underpayments

Mapping disparate sources of employment and payroll data
Using data analytics techniques to recalculate all employee entitlements rather than conducting a manual review
Reporting findings and insights to relevant stakeholders, including Fair Work Ombudsman

Communicating Effectively