The National Retail Association has partnered with the Western Australian Government to create an education hub designed to assist businesses with wage compliance.

The ‘Wage Right Compliance Hub’ provides employers with resources to help identify what industrial instruments apply to it, how to classify employees correctly, and deliver practical guidance on how to avoid common pay and record-keeping errors.

NRA chief executive Dominique Lamb applauded the WA Government of understanding the complexity of the IR system, and said one of the key causes of wage non-compliance by retailers is simply a lack of understanding.

“Since 2013 retailers have had to deal with nearly 14,000 different rates of pay depending on variables such as whether the employee is casual or permanent, their age, their classification and the times at which the work is performed,” Lamb said.

“This number easily doubles if you consider shift workers, baking production employees, apprentices and those working under the supported wage system.”

According to Lamb, many retailers don’t have access to a well-resourced HR department to help safeguard against unintended mistakes, and the new hub is designed to do exactly that.