Lodging a complaint with NSW Industrial Relations

What NSW Industrial Relations can assist with

NSW Industrial Relations handles complaints concerning:

• breaches of the Long Service Leave Act 1955 
• non-payment of statutory entitlements to a bailee in the taxi industry or a contract driver under a Contract Determination
• non-payment of state award or statutory entitlements to a local government employee or a NSW public sector employee
• illegal deduction from the pay of a local government employee or a NSW public sector employee.

What NSW Industrial Relations can't assist with and who to contact instead 

If your complaint is about pay, conditions or workplace rights under Commonwealth legislation, enterprise agreements or modern awards, contact Fair Work Ombudsman on 131 394. 

If your complaint is about ending employment including unfair dismissal, unlawful termination or general protections, or about bullying, harassment or discrimination at work, contact Fair Work Commission on 1300 799 675. 

Important note: If you are a NSW Public Sector employee or a NSW Local Government employee and you are considering or intend to lodge a claim for unfair dismissal contact the NSW Industrial Relations Commission

Speak to your employer/ bailor / principal contractor regarding the issue. 

It is possible that a genuine mistake was made but can be rectified easily after discussions between the parties. See Step 5 below for a sample letter of demand.

Your union may be able to advise you.

LawAccess NSW is a free government telephone service that provides legal information, referrals and in some cases, advice for people who have a legal problem in NSW. The Law Society of NSW also runs a Solicitor Referral Service (SRS) which can provide personalised assistance.

• Send a Letter of Demand to your employer/ bailor / principal contractor to formally demand the amount you believe is owed to you. See below for more information about sending a letter of demand, as well as templates for you to use. 
• Wait 7 days for your employer/ bailor / principal contractor to respond to the letter of demand. 
• If they have not responded, or the dispute is not resolved, after 7 days you may lodge a complaint with NSW Industrial Relations (see next step). Any complaint submitted without waiting the 7 days for a response or a copy of the letter of demand will be automatically closed.

How to do a Letter of Demand

Use these steps:

a) Select the most appropriate template from the list below (Word documents).

• Template 1 – Generic Unpaid Long Service Leave Entitlement (DOCX 45.92KB)
• Template 2 - Unpaid Long Service Leave Entitlement >10 years’ service (DOCX 48.5KB)
• Template 3 - Unpaid Long Service Leave Entitlement <10 years’ service (DOCX 44.84KB)
• Template 4 - Bailee taxi driver unpaid entitlement (DOCX 42.61KB)
• Template 5 – Transport industry (Contract Drivers) unpaid entitlement (DOCX 42.32KB)
• Template 6 – Local government unpaid entitlement (DOCX 42.12KB)
• Template 7 – Public sector (NSW government) unpaid entitlement (DOCX 42.64KB)

b) Complete as relevant to your situation and send to your employer/ bailor / principal contractor to formally demand they pay any unpaid entitlements you believe are owed to you.

c) Wait 7 days for your employer/ bailor / principal contractor to respond to the letter of demand.  If they have not responded, or the dispute is not resolved, after 7 days you may lodge a complaint with NSW Industrial Relations (see next step).  

Note that any complaints submitted without waiting the 7 days for a response or a copy of the letter of demand will be automatically closed. 

If you have not been able to resolve your concerns regarding your outstanding entitlements by following the steps above, you can call NSW Industrial Relations on 131 628 to discuss.

For us to process your complaint, generally you have to:

• be currently employed or have been employed by the employer named in the complaint within 12 months immediately preceding lodgement of the complaint
• have an entitlement to long service leave relating to employment with an employer in the 12 months immediately preceding lodgement of the complaint
• be a contract driver under a Transport Industry Contract Determination or have been such a contract driver within the 12 months immediately preceding lodgement of the complaint
• be a current bailee under the Taxi Industry (Contract Drivers) Contract Determination 1984 or have been such a bailee within 12 months immediately preceding lodgement of the complaint.

There are mandatory fields you will need to complete as well as attaching supporting documents.

Access and complete the complaint form

• Online Complaint Form, OR
• Printable form (PDF 256.61KB) you'll need to complete and post to GPO Box 5341, Sydney NSW 2001.

Attach relevant documents

When lodging an industrial complaint you will need to make sure that:

• All parts of your industrial complaint form are completed as accurately as possible.
• All relevant documents and information are included with your complaint (eg your commencement date, any breaks of employment, termination letters, and payslips).
• Evidence of any prior attempt to resolve the dispute is included with your complaint, such as a copy of your letter of demand.

If a Complainant requires assistance due to barriers such as language, disability, homelessness, literacy they may seek our assistance to lodge their complaint by calling 131 628

The assessment will determine whether:

• We are empowered by legislation to proceed with this complaint.
• Relevant timeframes are satisfied (the complaint was lodged within 12 months of the alleged breach or non-compliance).
• The Complainant has sent a Letter of Demand to the Respondent and the time for response has expired.

We may not accept complaints where:

• You have not already tried to resolve the matter yourself with the other party.
• There is an unresolved unfair dismissal application concerning your employment which is subject to the complaint. NSW Industrial Relations can only investigate your complaint after the unfair dismissal application has been finalised.
• Allegations of criminal activity remain unresolved.
• Your engagement was terminated over 12 months ago.
• Your former employer / bailor / principal contractor is in liquidation. If this is the case you should contact the appointed liquidator. Information regarding insolvency for employees can be accessed from ASIC’s website. Further assistance is also available from the Federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, the agency responsible for the Fair Entitlements Guarantee (FEG). You can find out more about FEG by calling 1300 135 040 or at their website.

Complaints satisfying the eligibility requirements above will be allocated for Assistance. During this phase, we will assist the Complainant and Respondent to resolve the complaint by providing information on the relevant legislation.

If the parties are unable to resolve the matter, the complaint may proceed to an investigation. During this phase we will conduct a thorough investigation to identify whether there has been breaches of NSW industrial relations legislation, and if necessary, take steps to enforce compliance.

Where any breach of the NSW Industrial Relations laws can be established, we are able to impose various sanctions. These include: a Formal Caution, General Penalty Notice and Notice to Employer. We may also recommend prosecution action, where appropriate.

Please see our Complaints Handling Policy for more information.