One payroll mistake. Repeated every fortnight. Across your entire team.
Would you know it was happening, or only discover it when someone raised a complaint?
For many Australian business owners, HR compliance sits on the “we’ll get to it” list. However, with Fair Work enforcement increasing, leaving it there could become an expensive decision.
More investigations. Less room for assumptions.
The Fair Work Ombudsman reported recovering $453 million for more than 181,000 workers in 2025–26, up 27% on the previous year. Meanwhile, proactive investigations increased by 86% to more than 2,680. Building and construction and disability support services remain priority sectors. Source: Fair Work Ombudsman
That means an employee complaint is not the only way your business can attract scrutiny.
The cost can reach far beyond back pay
An incorrect award classification. A missed allowance. Overtime calculated incorrectly. Small errors can accumulate across employees and years.
If underpayments are uncovered, your business could face:
- Back-payment costs that put pressure on cash flow.
- Potential penalties, depending on the breach.
- Professional fees for legal advice, payroll reviews and remediation.
- Lost management time as records are checked and problems corrected.
- Damaged employee trust, affecting morale and retention.
Then there is your business’s name.
You may have spent years building a reputation as a trusted local employer. Public enforcement action or reports of underpayments could undermine that confidence, making customers question your business and future employees hesitate to join.
Imagine explaining to your team that their pay has been wrong for years. Even an unintentional mistake can leave people questioning whether they can trust you.
“We thought we were covered” is a costly assumption
At People By Design, we regularly see gaps between what owners believe is happening and what their procedures actually support.
Often, nobody deliberately ignored the issue. The business grew, responsibilities changed and HR processes fell behind.
We are currently conducting HR audits for existing and new clients, helping Australian businesses identify these gaps before they become bigger problems.
Find the gaps. Prioritise the fixes.
Depending on the agreed scope, we review employment contracts, policies, onboarding, award classifications and record-keeping. Where payroll assurance is needed, sample checks can examine hours, overtime, allowances, leave and superannuation processes.
Crucially, we look beyond whether documents exist to whether procedures are understood and followed.
You receive practical guidance on what needs attention and how to move forward. An audit cannot guarantee complete protection, but it can help reduce risk and replace assumptions with evidence.
You have worked too hard to build your business to leave this unchecked.
Contact People By Design to discuss an HR audit, and take action before a hidden issue becomes a costly, public problem.