Unpaid Commission Claims:

An employee is paid on commission if he or she is paid extra to recompense for the work done. It can be described as a fee paid based on a percentage of the sale made by an employee or agent, as distinguished from regular payments of wages or salary.  A sales commission is the amount of money that an individual receives based on the level of sales he or she has obtained. The sales person is provided a certain amount of money in addition to his/her standard salary based on the amount of sales obtained. In other professions a commission is a service charge in return for providing advice and handling transactions on behalf of a client. For instance a broker or investment advisor charges commission for providing investment advice and/or handling the purchase or sale of a security. An investment firm with low commissions may offer less advice, in contrast to full service brokerages which may offer higher commission for a service with greater advice and support.  Consultation with a skilled Debt Recovery and Insurance Lawyer may be greatly beneficial if you are involved in recovering unpaid commission.

These unpaid commissions can remain unpaid after you leave your job, become redundant or if your position is terminated. Your employer is legally and contractually required to pay you your employee entitlements and your commissions that constitute part of your salary or earnings. If these remain unpaid then you may need to take action to ensure these amounts are recovered. Seeking thorough and detailed legal advice from a Debt Recovery and Insurance Lawyer may be greatly beneficial if you are in involved in recovering unpaid commissions.

If your employee does not pay your commissions as they are contractually and legally required to do, you can seek redress from the Fair Work Ombudsman or the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC). If your employer is still operating a business, the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) may be able to provide information about the employer’s obligations to meet unpaid employee entitlements. Also, if you're an employee (or former employee), you can take a small claims action under the Fair Work Act 2009 to recover overdue entitlements for amounts under $20,000. This is performed under the as 'small claims procedure' and can be taken at any time within the statutory time limit (generally 6 years from when you were supposed to be paid the entitlement).  

Alternatively, a complaint can be lodged with the Fair Work Ombudsman to facilitate the rightful payment of your commissions. If there are commissions or other wages that remain unclaimed, an employer may send these funds to the Fair Work Ombudsman and these funds are then turned over to the Federal Government’s consolidated revenue, which acts as custodian of the funds until they can be returned to the rightful owner. Professional legal advice from a skilled Debt Recovery and Insurance Lawyer may be advantageous to ensure that any unpaid Employee entitlements are appropriately addressed.

In addition an employee is able to recover any underpayment of wages and/or entitlements under the Fair Work Act. An employee can lodge a complaint with respect to an underpayment of wages and/or entitlements to the Fair Work Ombudsman. Alternatively, an employee can take their own legal action to recover outstanding wages and/or entitlements, although the majority of claims would be made to the FWO. If the employee is a member of a union, the employee may instruct their union to instigate an underpayment claim directly to the relevant court. Proper legal advice in from a Debt Recovery and Insurance Lawyer may be of great assistance in this regard.

If you would like further information or wish to discuss your unpaid commissions matter with us please do not hesitate to contact us by telephone on (02) 9233 4048 or by email to info@navado.com.au. 

This webpage (and any material or wording appearing on this webpage) is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute any Legal Advice. It does not take into account your objectives, your instructions or all of the relevant facts and/or circumstances. Navado accepts no responsibility to any person who relies on the information provided on this website. We further refer you to our Disclaimer.