“Exploitation” and “Wage theft” are emotive and pejorative terms that are used freely by commentators and policymakers calling for harsh penalties. But can any “breach of minimum employment standards”[1] count as exploitation?

Is an employer guilty of exploitation or wage theft for “not complying with the minimum legal entitlements of their employees”?[2] or is something more required to earn the badge of iniquity? Something that colours the non-compliance as misconduct or unconscionable?

What do you think?

You’re cordially invited to come along and have your say in WorkAccord’s next Tuesday TalkAbout, on November 26, when we’ll be talking about “Modern Slavery, Exploitation and Vulnerable Worker Protections”.

I hope you’ll join me!

Andrew C. Wood

[1] The understanding conveyed by New Zealand MBIE’s Consultation Paper on Temporary Migrant Worker Exploration, Oct 2019.

[2] The understanding conveyed by the Australian government Migrant Worker Taskforce in its report, March 2019.