Higher penalties have been introduced for employers who contravene state employment laws or do not provide employees their legal employment entitlements.

Under the new penalty provisions:

• maximum penalties for contravening an entitlement provision (for example, a provision of a WA award) have increased from $2,000 to $65,000 for bodies corporate and $13,000 for individuals
• maximum penalties for contravening a civil penalty provision (for example, record keeping provisions in the Industrial Relations Act) have increased from $5,000 to $65,000 for bodies corporate and $13,000 for individuals
• penalties for contravening the Long Service Leave Act have been introduced.

New maximum penalties for ‘serious contraventions’, which are knowingly committed and part of a systematic pattern of conduct, are $650,000 for bodies corporate and $130,000 for individuals.

In addition, accessorial liability provisions have been included in the Industrial Relations Act that extend liability to persons who are involved in a contravention, for example, a person who conspires with others to effect a contravention.

The new provisions commenced on 20 June 2022.

There is more information about the changes in the Increased penalties and accessorial liability factsheet.