Can I pursue an employer for unpaid wages if they are no longer trading?

This implies that the company is still operational. However, the company may already have taken steps to deregister, so you should do additional research by following the steps below.  

Step 1: Search ASIC Published Notices 

Even if your employer is listed as registered, they may still be in the process of voluntary deregistration.  

You can check whether a company is in the process of deregistration by looking at the ASIC Published Notices. Companies are listed on the ASIC Published Notices two months before they are deregistered.  

You will know if the company is in the process of deregistration if it has submitted a Winding Up application. If this applies to you, you should read the information on what to do if your employer is in the process of deregistration below.   

Step 2: Call ASIC  

If your employer is not listed as deregistered or in the process of being deregistered on either the ASIC Register or the Published Notices, you can ring ASIC to confirm there have not been any delays in website updates.  

You can call ASIC’s Customer Contact Centre on 1300 300 630. It is open Monday to Friday from 8:50 am to 5:00 pm.  

Step 3: Set up a Company Alert on ASIC  

If your employer is still registered but you are concerned that your employer will deregister as a company in the future, you can set up a Company Alert on the ASIC website. This will notify you of any changes to the company’s registration.

Instructions for doing this are on ASIC’s website.

This means that the company no longer exists. 

To find out what avenues are available to you to pursue unpaid wages, you should read our resource on “Pursuing unpaid wages when my employer is deregistered”.

This means that the company still exists but is in the process of voluntary deregistration or ASIC has initiated its deregistration. 

In either case, you can apply to ASIC to stop the process in certain circumstances. These circumstances are if: 

• You are conducting legal proceedings against your employer; or 
• You intend to commence legal proceedings against your employer shortly. 

You should seek legal advice if you do not know whether you have a claim against your employer, or if you need help commencing proceedings against your employer. For further details on pursuing legal claims against your employer for unpaid entitlements, you can click here for more information.

You can apply to ASIC to stop the deregistration process by filling in an online enquiry form.

In your enquiry you should include:  

• The company’s name and Australian Company Number (ACN).
• The reason you want to defer the deregistration of your employer.
• Brief details of the legal action you have brought / are about to bring against them.
• Any documents you have supporting your claim that your employer owes you money. These documents might include pay slips or any correspondence with your employer discussing the issue. 
• Your postal address.

If ASIC grants your request and stops the deregistration of your employer, they will not stop it indefinitely. Instead, they will delay the process to allow your legal proceedings against your employer to take place. After that they will recommence deregistration.  

If the company status refers to “administration”, this means that the company still exists, but is being managed by, or in the process of, being appointed an external administrator. 

If you think you are owed money as an employee by a company that is under administration, you may be a creditor. For more information about what employees can do to recover debts from a company under administration, you can look at ASIC’s “Voluntary administration: A guide for employees”.

If you have questions about your entitlement as an employee of a company under administration, ask us on Justice Connect Answers.

If the company status refers to “in liquidation”, this means that the company’s assets are currently being sold off by an administrator to settle their debts. Once liquidation is finished, ASIC will deregister the company.  

If you think you are owed money as an employee by a company that is in liquidation, you may be a creditor. For more information about what employees can do to recover debts from a company in liquidation, you can look at ASIC’s “Liquidation: A guide for employees”.

If you confirm that your employer is in liquidation, you may be able to recover unpaid entitlements under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme. For more information about this, read our resource on “Pursuing an employer for unpaid wages when they are deregistered”.