Jessica*, a 26 year old waitress won back $4000 in compensation for dismissal and wage theft *name has been changed

Jessica was in Australia on a working holiday visa. She applied for a job with an advertised hourly pay rate that was less than the minimum award rate but she was not aware of this at first being unfamiliar with the workplace conditions in Australia. The business then paid her even less than the already low advertised rate. 

After one month of employment, she raised rate of pay and asked to be paid correctly. She also attempted to take sick leave as she was sick at work but the business refused to allow her to go home. Afterwards, she attended a GP and was signed off for a further 3 days due to being really sick and unfit to work and business then fired her for taking this sick leave.  

YWC Legal Action:

We made an application for breach of general protections provisions on Jessica's behalf and settled at conciliation for a payment of approximately $4,000 as compensation for the termination and reimbursement of wage theft!