Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Indi for her question. If a worker is covered by an award and employed under a common law contract, they must be paid all the entitlements under that award. If hours are worked which would have entitled the worker to penalty rates under that award, the worker must be paid those penalty rates. This has been the case in Australia for more than 90 years.

The Office of Workplace Services can and does investigate these matters and take action on behalf of workers to recover any underpayment. In some cases the Office of Workplace Services may take the employer to court to recover underpayments and the employer may be ordered by that court to pay fines. The entitlements of workers have strong protections under the workplace relations laws. I urge any member of this House or of the general public who is aware of any underpayment of entitlements to contact the Workplace Infoline on 1300 363264.

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