What's not okay?
- Unpaid work trials are generally against the law. You should not be asked to work for free
- You should be paid for all hours you work, including meetings or training and the time you spend opening and closing the business
- Not being given a pay slip. You should get a pay slip within 1 day of being paid
- You should generally start and finish your shift at the rostered time no matter how busy or quiet it is, unless you and your employer agree otherwise
- Getting goods or services (including food) instead of pay.
Undue influence or pressure and coercion
This is when your employer tries to get you to exercise or not exercise one of your workplace rights.
It's unlawful for an employer to unduly influence or pressure an employee to:
- make / not make an agreement or arrangement under the National Employment Standards (NES)
- make / not make an agreement or arrangement under an award or agreement
- agree to, or terminate an individual flexibility arrangement
- agree / not agree to have money deducted from their pay.
It’s also unlawful for any person to:
- coerce another person or 3rd party to exercise / not exercise a workplace right
- coerce another person or 3rd party to get involved in industrial activity.
Unlawful termination
National workplace laws make it illegal to dismiss an employee for a range of reasons (except where related to the inherent requirements of the position concerned).
These grounds include:
- a person's race, colour, sex, sexual preference, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family or carer's responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin
- temporary absence from work because of illness or injury
- trade union membership or participation in trade union activities outside working hours, or with the employer's consent, during working hours
- non-membership of a trade union
- seeking office as, or acting as, a representative of employees
- being absent from work during maternity leave or other parental leave
- temporary absence from work to participate in a voluntary emergency management activity
- filing a complaint, or participating in proceedings, against an employer.
Freedom of association
All employers, employees and independent contractors are free to become, or not become, members of an industrial association, such as a union or employer body.
A person cannot take adverse action against another person because they do or don't belong to an industrial association or because they do or don't engage in certain industrial activity.
Can my employer pay me in cash?
Your employer can pay you in the form of cash, a cheque, bank deposit or one of the other methods allowed by the law, modern award or your enterprise agreement.
It's okay for your employer to pay you in cash, as long as tax has been taken from your earnings. Check your pay slip to make sure this has been done. Your employer must regularly send the tax to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).
'Cash in hand' occurs when you’re paid without tax being taken from your earnings. Paying an employee ‘cash in hand’ is against the law.
Employee or independent contractor?
Employees generally work for another person under a contract of employment in return for regular pay.
Generally, independent contractors are engaged under a contract to perform a specific task, or for a specified period, and will use their own equipment, choose what hours they work and decide how they do the work.
Some employers disguise employment relationships as an independent contracting arrangement to avoid paying legal minimum rates of pay, tax and entitlements, such as annual leave and sick leave. This is called 'sham contracting' and is against the law.