WA Government gives $300,000 in grants toward wage theft education initiatives

Four West Australian organisations, including unions which represent the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, have been awarded $75,000 grants for education initiatives to tackle wage theft. 

The Getting Employment Right grants program is aimed at educating small businesses in sectors and industries which are at high risk of wage theft, with WA Industrial Relations Minister Bill Johnston explaining that the program was established to provide funding for employer and employee associations to educate Western Australian small businesses and workers about employment laws. 

The successful employee organisations were UnionsWA and United Workers Union, and the two successful employer organisations were the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) WA and the National Retail Association. 

UnionsWA and United Workers Union will use their grants to implement an education initiative about workers’ employment rights in the State and national industrial relations systems, and where to seek assistance when resolving an underpayment or wage theft issue.

CCI WA and the National Retail Association will use their grants to develop and implement an education initiative to raise awareness among small business employers on their employment obligations and the penalties for non-compliance of employment laws.

The program has been offered after an inquiry into wage theft in WA, completed in July 2019, found one of the reasons wage theft occurs is due to a lack of understanding of employment rights and obligations.

Mr Johnson  encouraged small business employers and workers to access the new education initiatives when they become available in the near future. 

For more information about combating wage theft in ECEC, please see here.