Payroll and wage compliance
Find out whether your people have been paid correctly under their award or enterprise agreement, put a defensible figure on any underpayment, and fix it before it becomes a regulator, union or wage theft problem.
Notices come with deadlines, and the figures you give back matter. We help you work out exactly what is owed, document it properly, and respond with your employment lawyer.
Most underpayments are not deliberate. They come from complex Modern Awards and enterprise agreements, annualised salaries that no longer cover overtime and penalties, and payroll settings nobody has checked in years.
We test your payroll against the industrial instruments that apply, recalculate entitlements for a sample or for every employee, and quantify underpayments, overpayments and superannuation shortfalls.
We work alongside your employment lawyer, so legal advice and our calculations line up, and the findings are ready for the Fair Work Ombudsman, auditors or a court if needed.
A review of your payroll system, settings and processes to find where the compliance risks are, before anyone else does.
Sample or full historical recalculations of wages, penalty rates, overtime, allowances, leave and superannuation, including annualised salary reconciliations.
Identify the systemic errors behind the underpayment, such as award misclassification or payroll configuration, so it doesn't recur.
Calculate back pay, superannuation and interest per employee, and support communications and rectification payments.
Support when dealing with the Fair Work Ombudsman, independent reviews for enforceable undertakings, and expert evidence in underpayment claims.
We provide the financial analysis and recalculations. Award interpretation, self-reporting and cooperation with the Fair Work Ombudsman need advice from your employment lawyer.
Principal
Principal, Maxwind
Erin is the principal of Maxwind Analytics. Her background combines corporate finance, building and running businesses, and specialist valuation and forensic work.
Maxwind Analytics has advised Melbourne businesses and their advisers since 2020.
About ErinA sample test is offered with a clear scope and a fixed fee. If a full review is needed, it is scoped from the sample and also quoted as a fixed fee.
Read the notice carefully and note its deadline, speak to an employment lawyer, keep all payroll, roster and timesheet records, and get an independent recalculation of what is owed before you respond. Accurate, documented figures help you respond properly and limit the risk of further action.
Read the full answerIt can be. Since 1 January 2025, an employer who intentionally underpays wages, superannuation or other entitlements can commit a criminal offence under the Fair Work Act. Honest mistakes that are corrected are treated differently. Victoria also has its own wage theft laws. Get legal advice and an independent recalculation early.
Read the full answerPayroll remediation is the process of finding, calculating and repaying wages and entitlements that employees were underpaid, and fixing the cause. It usually runs in stages - risk review, recalculation, fixing the payroll error, repaying employees, and dealing with regulators - with an employment lawyer advising throughout.
Read the full answerYes. We work with your employment lawyer to recalculate what each employee should have been paid, quantify any shortfall including superannuation, and document the method so your response is accurate and defensible. Call as soon as you receive the notice so we can work to its deadline.
Keep the records, speak to your lawyer, and get the claim checked independently. A recalculation shows whether the claim is right, and whether other employees may be affected.
Usually yes. Engaging the review through your lawyer may help protect confidentiality, and you need legal advice on self-reporting and remediation.
Any business with award-covered staff, shift work or annualised salaries. Hospitality, retail, health and aged care, cleaning, security and professional services firms with salaried staff working long hours are common examples.
Yes. A sample test is the usual first step and often answers whether a full review is needed.
A short conversation is usually enough to tell whether we can help and what the work would involve.
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