Unions will campaign ahead of this year’s state election for the Andrews government to make ‘wage theft’ a crime and punishable by up to 10 years in jail.

The move by the Victorian Trades Hall Council and its Young Workers Centre is part of a growing legislative push in Australia to try to turn the deliberate underpayment of wages into a criminal offence.

Push to jail employers for up to 10 years for ‘wage theft’