Staggering figure Australian workers are losing to wage theft

Australian workers are losing nearly $850 million a year due to wage theft, new data has revealed.

It's a growing concern among workers, with research showing many might not even be aware they have been short-changed.

James Lea was a bartender for 18 months, a job that underpaid him by $15,000.

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He eventually contacted his union, which helped him take action.

"It has a huge impact and I knew something was wrong but I wasn't empowered to speak up about it," Lea said.

"We got together with 20 workers in the workplace and recovered collectively $150,000 in wages."

Lea joined the Young Workers Centre to help others fight the battle against wage theft, after he discovered how widespread the issue is.

About 59 per cent of Australian companies have made a payroll error in the past 24 months, according to a report by Rippling.

The most common errors include under or overpaying an employee (48 per cent), delayed payment (44 per cent), misgrading an employee (28 per cent) and not making superannuation payments (24 per cent).

"Those numbers are quite sobering," Rippling vice president Matt Loop said.

"I don't think we expected the results to be that high."

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The research also showed businesses with 50 or more employees were more likely to make mistakes with pay than smaller businesses.

"The kind of impact it has on young people is really profound... especially today in a cost of living crisis," Lea said.

"However much money it is... that's money that they've worked for and earned."