Wages and entitlements

This topic is for peo​ple 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.  

 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.

​  If you have been dismissed, 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 unfair dismissal and general protections dismissal, see the 'Employment rights' topic of this website. 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.

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?

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.

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 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.

​The information in this topic was last reviewed on December 2013.