OPINION: Wage thieves are not victims

Some bosses deliberately underpay their workers. Some do it by mistake. But either way, bosses who rip off their workers are not victims.
 
George Calombaris is not a victim.
 
He bears responsibility for failing to pay his staff properly. He bears responsibility for the reputational damage the scandal did to his company. And he bears responsibility for the ultimate failure of that company.
 
It’s devastating for the hundreds of workers now out of jobs. But Calombaris bears responsibility for this too.
 
It’s not the fault of the unions who campaigned to make sure workers got what they were owed; it’s not the fault of the media who wrote about the scandal; and it’s not the fault of the regulator that ultimately held him to account.
 
His company broke the law. And that has consequences.
 
This is a simple point that seems lost on business bodies like the Ai Group.
 
Shortly after it was announced Made Establishment was going into voluntary administration, Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox issued an extraordinary statement that sought to make apologies for Calombaris on the basis his wage theft was unintentional.
 
Claiming the campaign against wage theft was “overblown” and “out of control” he sought to blame the unions for Calombaris’ situation.
 
“The unions, in particular, through relentlessly overinflating and politicising the issue and branding employers as ‘thieves’ should bear much of the opprobrium for the sad outcome in the Calombaris case and others,” Willox said.
 
Willox objects to the very phrase “wage theft” because it’s “overly emotive”. Apparently it’s the public “pile on” that is forcing employers out of business – not the actual wrongdoing.
 
This is dangerous rhetoric and we cannot let it take hold.
 
People take other people’s money are not victims. Workers who steal from the till are not victims, and bosses who steal wages are not victims.
 
Wage thieves and their apologists have also sought to blame the “complexity” of the award system.
 
The award system has already been simplified over the last decade. There are 122 modern awards, down from 1,500 when John Howard was in office.
 
The Fair Work Ombudsman has a simple online award calculator that tells you the correct hourly rates – and takes about five minutes to complete.
 
Businesses just need to take compliance with employment law as seriously as they do with tax law – and if they don’t they must face the consequences.
 
This is not “anti-business” rhetoric as Willox claims – it’s anti-lawbreaking.
 
On wage theft – as on so many things –Scott Morrison and the Liberals have been glacially slow to act.
 
This issue first shot to national prominence with the 7-Eleven scandal in 2015. But it’s only been in recent months this Government has even deigned to acknowledge Australia has a wage theft problem.
 
Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter says he’ll release legislation in the coming months to criminalise wage theft.
 
Whatever shape the Government’s laws take, Labor doesn’t believe criminalising wage theft is enough to stamp out this epidemic. The Government must do more.
 
First, it must ensure wage theft can be more easily uncovered.
 
We need a system of scrutiny in workplaces that doesn’t rely on employees figuring out they’ve been ripped off. Labor has established a Senate inquiry – against the Government’s wishes – that will help develop policies to achieve this.
 
The Fair Work Ombudsman does good work but will simply never have enough inspectors to properly monitor Australia’s 2.3 million businesses.
 
Unions have always played an essential role exposing these scandals.
 
Which is why the Government’s myopic obsession with smashing the unions, most recently with its so-called Ensuring Integrity Bill, undermines its new rhetoric on wage theft.
 
This is a Bill that could see unions – the best advocates workers have on wage theft – shut down over minor paperwork breaches.
 
Morrison can’t have it both ways: he either cracks down on wage theft or he continues his crusade against the union movement. It’s one or the other.
 
The other thing the Government must do is ensure workers have a fast and low-cost means for recovering their stolen wages.
 
At the last election Labor promised to establish a small claims tribunal for wage theft victims. Porter now says he’s open to the idea. We think that should be a top priority.
 
It's true that much wage theft is negligent rather than malicious.
 
But there is clearly a corporate culture here – which has been allowed to flourish under the Liberals – of recklessness. By failing for so long to act, the Government has sent the tacit message this kind of behaviour is okay.
 
Calombaris leveraged his celebrity status to build his empire. That’s a double-edged sword: it was also his celebrity status that ensured he attracted a lot of attention when he did the wrong thing.
 
But that doesn’t mean he should be excused. That doesn’t mean he’s a victim.
 
The lesson from this sad scandal should not be that wage thieves are victims.
 
The lesson should be that Australians have had a gutful of wage theft. The lesson should be that this era of wage theft needs to end.
 
This opinion piece was first published in the Australian Financial Review on Thursday, 13 February 2020