With the increased costs to small business this question may be a question that many Australian employees have been asking themselves lately.
Unfortunately when a business goes into liquidation employees are often left waiting an extended period of time to receive their entitlements and in some cases may even miss out.
When a company goes into liquidation a liquidator is appointed to take control of the company’s assets. It is at this time that the liquidator should write to you as an employee of the company notifying you of the termination of your employment and advising you of what your unpaid entitlements are according to the books and records. It is then up to you to go ahead and lodge a claim with the liquidator for any unpaid entitlements.
Amounts that may be payable to you include unpaid wages and superannuation, unpaid annual leave, unpaid long service leave, pay in lieu of notice and in some cases redundancy pay.
Rest assured that your employee entitlements must be paid for in full after liquidation costs are paid but before ordinary unsecured creditors are paid.
There is an order of priority in which employee entitlements are paid with wages and superannuation taking first priority.
If you or someone you know has found yourself in a situation whereby your employer has gone into liquidation and don’t know what to do, contact our friendly team at Meehans today on 4627 3333 to speak to someone who can guide you through the process.
This article was published on 4/06/24 and the information is valid only to the date of publishing. This article should be considered merely general and non-specific on the subject matter and is not and should not be considered or relied on as legal, advice. Meehans Solicitors is not responsible in the event this information is relied upon by the reader in the absence of specific legal advice.
