Providing information about suspected wage theft

Your employment contract usually outlines the terms and conditions of your employment.

Your contract may include valuable information about your:

• job title
• role
• status (e.g. casual, part-time, full-time)
• duties
• ‘level’ under an award or enterprise agreement
• pay rate
• leave entitlements
• work location
• work hours.

Your employment contract may also be referred to as:

• an agreement
• a workplace agreement
• the terms and conditions of employment. 

A letter of appointment may also constitute an employment contract.

A written contract of employment will usually contain your signature and the date that you signed it. 

Your pay slips show the pay you received and can help us identify:

• your employer’s name and Australian Business Number (ABN)
• payment periods
• payment dates
• hours worked
• gross and net pay, including your ordinary hourly rate and any penalties or allowances.

The Fair Work Ombudsman provides information on what must be included on pay slips and an employee’s right to receive pay slips.

Your employer gives you PAYG payment summaries for tax purposes. They show the payments made to an employee across a financial year and the tax that was withheld.

PAYG payment summaries show us:

• your employer’s name and Australian Business Number (ABN)
• that employment with an employer occurred during the financial year
• the total amount your employer paid you in the financial year
• length of service.

The Australian Taxation Office may be able to assist you in get copies of your historical PAYG Payment Summaries and other tax documents.

An employer may not provide their employee with PAYG payment summaries if they use the Single Touch Payroll system.

If your employer paid wages or salary by bank transfer, your bank statements may show us how much income you received after tax.

Please send us all bank statements for the period you believe the wage theft occurred.

Bank statements are available from your bank or financial institution.

Your timesheet will show us the hours you have worked and help us assess whether you had any entitlements withheld.

Please send us all relevant timesheets. If you don’t have timesheets, please send any documents that include:

• copies of rosters
• correspondence from your employer about shifts, such as text messages or emails
• records showing when you logged in and logged out
• any other records showing the hours you worked.

Correspondence between you and your employer, including emails, letters and text messages, can be valuable evidence. Send us any correspondence that shows:

• you have raised the alleged underpayment or record-keeping discrepancy with your employer, and any response
• hours or shifts worked
• your employment type
• your duties
• your classification
• agreements made between you and your employer that are relevant to your wage theft report
• information about wages, penalties, loadings, allowances or leave entitlements.

Correspondence with other agencies about your employment, pay or entitlements may also help us assess your wage theft report. For example, a letter of demand and evidence the letter was delivered to and received by the employer.