LawAccess NSW > Representing Yourself > Employment rights > Wages and entitlements

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Wages and entitlements

This topic is for people in NSW and has information about:

what payments you may be entitled to as an employee
when those payments should be made
what you can do if your employer does not make those payments.

Alert icon The information in this topic can help you if the national employment laws cover you. All employees working in NSW are covered unless they are employed by the NSW government, a local council, or a NSW state government owned corporation. If national employment laws do not cover you, you should get legal advice.

Alert icon If you have been dismissed, are worried you might be dismissed, or are having other problems at work, you should get legal advice. If you have been dismissed it may have been unfair or in breach of a general protection. If you are being bullied or discriminated against at work, you have other options.

For more information about, see the Unfair dismissal and General protections dismissal pages. You generally only have 21 days from your last day of work to make an application for either.

Right to wages and entitlements

If you are an employee, you have a right to be paid wages and other entitlements. What you are entitled to will depend on:

the national employment standards
an award
an enterprise agreement
a contract of employment
entitlements in other legislation.

For more information, see Right to wages and entitlements.

What am I entitled to?

As an employee, you may be entitled to be paid:

wages
overtime and allowances
bonuses and commissions
annual leave and leave loading
personal/carer's leave, compassionate leave
family and domestic violence leave
community service leave
parental leave
long service leave
superannuation
payment in lieu of notice
redundancy pay.

When these entitlements should be paid, will depend on your circumstances.

For more information, see What am I entitled to?

What if my entitlements are not paid?

If you are not paid your correct entitlements, there are steps you can take. You can contact your employer and explain what you believe you are owed and why. If your employer cannot pay you because they have gone out of business, you may still be able to recover some of what you are owed.

For more information, see What if my entitlements are not paid?

Contacting the Fair Work Ombudsman

If you believe you have not been paid your entitlements, you can ask the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) for assistance. In some cases, the FWO can:

organise mediation between you and your employer
investigate your case
help you start a court case
take further action against your employer.

For more information, see Contacting the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Starting a court case

If you have not been paid your correct entitlements you may need to start a court case to recover the money you are owed. Most cases are started in the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

For more information, see Starting a court case.

After court

If you went to court and you and your employer came to an agreement and settled your case, or you won your case you may need to enforce the agreement or judgment if your employer still refuses to pay you. If you lost your case, you may be able to appeal.

For more information, see After court.

Who's who at court

This section shows you what a typical courtroom looks like, who the different people are in the courtroom, and where you should sit, when you go to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia.

For more information, see Who's who in court.