Employers are required to pay outstanding wages and entitlements, even if the payment cannot be made directly to the employee.
If unclaimed wages and entitlements are received by the Fair Work Ombudsman, the funds are turned over to the Federal Government’s consolidated revenue, which acts as custodian of the funds until they can be returned to the rightful owner.
The Fair Work Ombudsman conducts searches to locate employees based on information that may have been provided during an investigation or audit, and other public searches like Australian electoral rolls and telephone directories.
I’ve never lodged a complaint with the Fair Work Ombudsman, how could I have unclaimed wages?
It is possible that you may be owed unclaimed wages without having lodged a complaint with our office.
The Fair Work Ombudsman regularly recovers money for employees through audits on employers without having received complaints from employees. These audits are conducted regularly, and occur for a number of reasons, including based on industry or geographical regions, and referrals from the media or other government agencies.
For example, if an employee is owed wages or entitlements and has left an employer, the employer may not have access to current contact details. The employer may pay the outstanding wages to the Fair Work Ombudsman until the employee is located.