My wife who works in the disability sector has had confirmed by her union that her emloyer has been underpaying by some $8 to $9 an hour plus other entitlements going back years in accordance or more accurately, not in accordance with the award for her industry.

Employers in my own industry provide caveats for themselves whilst abrogating the rights of their employees through the use of permission clauses in their contracts. These clauses allow them to thumb their noses at the rights of their employee's with the specific permission of the very same. Even though these contracts are illegal at best, a form of theft at worst, no one police's this.

The destruction caused to our economy through the uncertain industrial environment and the headless,lawless way, we allow business people to conduct themselves in our country is a direct result of bad Govt. In this case the Howard Govt, followed by those after them, for not fixing it.

As I work on an Easter Saturday for no pay, I fear the biggest problem we have as an retailer, is that the declining living standards that are direct result of such bad policy, are the reason my productivity is reduced and not the cost of the hours I am working.

There are simply not enough positive happy customers coming through the door anymore with sufficient capacity to purchase to make it sensible,worthwhile or enjoyable to work Public Hols for nothing.

No matter how many extra free hours my employer feels he can exploit from my life in favour of his own goals, he will not succeed in sating his own greed.

As petrol increases,utilities, communications etc go through the roof without any apparent restraint,stripping people of their capacity to survive, prosper or get ahead through working hard. No matter how hard or long you work your living standards will continue to decline.

Does anybody want to do something about this ?.

Thinker 2 I seem to remember we have talked about such issues before.
First almost no such workers are in a union.
Second SOME unions have forgotten why they exist.
They look at distances and numbers and do not take the immediate action good unions do.
The industry, like most health ones,runs on extreme low wages and extreme dedication of those low paid workers.
I have Friends in that job.
I have bluffed some employers in to fixing problems, bad under payments, represented on as delegated to do so.
Try this,take every step and I promise it will work.
Go to fair work Australia look for the Ombudsman, send written in full details , copy's, only copy's of pay slips.
Watch the feathers fly.
NOW my anti union/workers
In aged care/child care nursing/pre school only the dedication and desperate need to earn an income see,our most vulnerable looked after.
A window cleaner makes more.
If it was your child/ your husband/your wife mum or dad, would you want them looked after by people paid as serfs?
fair go Aussie every one has the right to eat.

john how-hard broke the egg too much
for it to ever be made whole again

were all going to be scambled [scam/bled] and fried soon
the wealthy need to exploit the workers..they got no other option

none are brave enough to tell govt..to collect 'its own taxes'
till we stop feeding the beast cash..the beast will demand ever more blood..[yes its that simple]

look at how govt taxed smokes
first it bought up big on big tobacco/shares
in the lib investment and govt super fund

it then made shopkeeper collect ever more taxes
add in gst and wage taxes and super taxes

we see how clever the business of small business
collecting big govt taxes has become

but what can they do
they either do it or go bust

as for the ohm-bud's man
good luck with that lol

no-one polices rights
cause we dont got none
[for public servants if it not compulsory
its not allowed to be done]

we dont got rights
except one..[pay as you earn]
or go broke

thinker 2, as I understand it, the ATO issues new Award Rate Schedules each year, every employer is required to pay at that rate for that Industry/Employment Award Category, which is then set in the Payroll System. If the rate is not paid at the Award Rate, it will be automatically rejected by the ATO as none compliant with the Award Rate schedule.

We can only conclude therefore that your wife was in fact on the wrong Award Rate.

Before you take Belly’s advice and take the matter to Fair Work Australia you need to answer some questions,

Was her Award rate category correct and validated by her Union Rep?
Did the employer have the wrong rate on the Payroll System?
If wrong rate, why and how?
Why did your wife not know what her correct Award Rate was “for years”?
Did she take up the matter with her employer, if so, what resulted?
Why did her Union Rep. not look up her correct Award rate?
Why did the Union Rep. not take up the matter with the employer?
How long since her Union Rep. was advised?
How long did it take for her Union to fix the problem?
Is the problem now corrected?
What entitlements were recovered for her by the Union Rep.?
Does the Union Rep. still hold their Union position? If so why?

Once these questions are answered you can then focus upon any culpability of her employer and if necessary, FWA.

"...I work on an Easter Saturday for no pay..."

Why would you do that?

"...I work on an Easter Saturday for no pay..."

Why would you do that?

Because it is standard in my industry and accepted as part of our contracts Morganzola.

This is the very point I'm making. The proposition we accept is, "that we have the opportunity to earn extra income through commission". We have the privilege of being payed for individual productivity but not the actual time we spend doing it.

I am in retail sales and our payslips do not reflect the hours we work. This is standard procedure in my industry. Employers often claim that they are paying over the award in hourly rates. This is based upon payslips that do not reflect the actual hours an employee has worked.

The tendency is for employers to seek more individual productivity through higher targets and more free work hours. This trend means that the harder and longer you work does not necessarily translate into an improved quality of life or living standards.

This trend also means that staff can become embroiled (with little job security) in a revolving door syndrome of people whom are prepared to accept such work obligations, vying for positions that compare favourably with not having a job, but don't compare favourably with having a real job.

One that has provided an un-interupted Easter break (as per your entitlements) that you may be well enjoying with your family as we speak Morganzola.

It is a fact that no one is policing peoples work conditions anymore and that there is no instrument available for anyone who wants too, to utilise except as an individual. Therein lies the problem.

This is probably why my wife's union is asking her to write a letter to her employer herself about her and her co-workers situation. The Union appears to be making no attempt to make representations on behalf of their members or the others who are not union members. I can only assume from this, that the Union is powerless anyway, in this situation.

As for me, I remain grateful for the opportunity to make a living, as my incentive.