From 1 January 2025, intentionally underpaying employees will be a criminal offence in Australia. With fines reaching $7.8 million for companies and 10 years' imprisonment for individuals, businesses cannot afford to get it wrong.
The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act 2023 puts compliance in the spotlight, making it essential for businesses to take proactive steps to protect themselves. For small businesses, the Voluntary Small Business Wage Compliance Code and supporting guide offer a clear framework to demonstrate compliance and protect against potential prosecution. This is where Complize can help.
As Australia’s leading RegTech solution, Complize offers tools to support businesses in maintaining accurate compensation documentation and audit readiness. This blog explores the changes, highlights the risks of non-compliance, and demonstrates how Complize can safeguard your business.
The introduction of criminal penalties marks a critical change in Australia’s workplace compliance landscape:
While honest mistakes are excluded, businesses must act swiftly to fix errors once identified to avoid investigations and penalties.
Source: Fair Work Ombudsman: New Criminal Underpayment Laws
Failing to comply with the new laws can have severe consequences beyond financial penalties, including:
Businesses managing temporary visa holders or large, multi-tiered workforces face even greater complexity. Accurate documentation of compensation decisions and maintaining audit-ready records are critical steps to safeguard compliance.
At Complize, we understand the challenges businesses face in navigating complex compliance requirements. While Complize does not currently track payroll compliance directly, our solution ensures businesses are prepared by enabling them to document compensation research and securely store these records for audit purposes. This functionality supports businesses in demonstrating their compliance efforts under the Fair Work framework.
By focusing on documentation and audit readiness, Complize provides businesses with the tools to mitigate risks and respond confidently to compliance inquiries.
To ensure compliance with the new criminal underpayment laws, businesses should:
While tracking payroll compliance will be added as a feature in early 2025, Complize already supports businesses today by enabling them to document compensation research and securely store audit-ready records. This ensures businesses can confidently demonstrate their compliance efforts while preparing for the evolving Fair Work requirements. Highlighting our future payroll compliance capabilities, Complize remains committed to delivering proactive compliance solutions for Australian businesses.
With Complize, businesses can demonstrate their commitment to compliance and avoid costly penalties under the new laws.
The new criminal underpayment laws place a heavy emphasis on accurate documentation and proactive compliance. Employers must act now to ensure compensation decisions are properly documented and audit-ready.
Complize provides businesses with a streamlined platform to manage compensation research and workforce compliance, empowering organisations to mitigate risks and protect their reputation.
Prepare for the January 2025 deadline with confidence. Book a demo with Complize today and see how we can simplify your compliance journey.
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About Complize Complize is Australia’s leading RegTech solution, simplifying workforce compliance by helping businesses organise and manage compensation research and audit-ready documentation.
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