For employees

Am I an employee?
Is my employer in financial trouble?
What are my options if my employer is in financial trouble?
More information
Quick links
Information sheets

Am I an employee?

You are likely to be classified as an employee if you are:

engaged by a company under an award, Certified Agreement, Australian Workplace Agreement, or a contract of employment, and
paid a salary, wages or commission.

Contractors are not employees. They are ordinary unsecured creditors of the company. An unsecured creditor is a person or company who is owed money and does not hold security over the company's property.

If you are an employee who is owed money for unpaid wages, superannuation, annual leave, sick leave, long service leave, retrenchment pay or other benefits, you are a creditor of the company. You may be entitled to some or all of what you are owed in priority to the company’s other creditors.

Is my employer in financial trouble?

Signs that may indicate that your employer is in financial trouble include late payment of your wages or unpaid wages and unpaid superannuation to your nominated superannuation fund.

What are my options if my employer is in financial trouble?

If you suspect that your employer is in financial difficulty, you should first raise your concerns with your employer. If this fails to resolve your concerns, your options can include:

seeking further information from the Workplace Infoline 1300 363 264 or via the Australian Workplace website (link below)
seeking legal advice
lodging a complaint with the ATO regarding unpaid superannuation (link below)
contacting your local union member (if relevant)
lodging a complaint with ASIC (link below)