Can a regular staff member at the Fair Work office send me an official notice?

The situation

I am currently based in Melbourne, Victoria, and I am dealing with a bit of a headache regarding my former employer. Back in January 2024, I was working as a junior administrator for a local retail firm, but I realised they weren't paying my correct entitlements. Specifically, they owed me about $3,450 in unpaid overtime and missed superannuation contributions from my six months of labour there. I decided to lodge a formal complaint with the Fair Work Ombudsman about three weeks ago to get this sorted. Since then, I have been waiting for an update, but yesterday afternoon, I received an email containing a formal notice requesting certain payroll documents from the company. The person who sent the email and signed off on the notice isn't the head of the whole Ombudsman office; they just identified themselves as a staff member working within the department. I am a bit confused about whether this is actually legitimate. Can a regular employee or a mid-level staff member actually have the legal authority to issue these kinds of official notices to a business, or does that power have to come directly from the top person in charge of the entire organisation?

Detailed Analysis

Under the Fair Work Act 2009, the head of the Fair Work Ombudsman does not have to perform every single legal task personally. The law allows for a process called delegation, which is when a person in authority passes their legal powers to someone else to act on their behalf^[1].

Specifically, the Act states that "the Fair Work Ombudsman may, in writing, delegate to a member of the staff of the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman or to an inspector all or any of the Fair Work Ombudsman’s functions or powers under any Act"^[1]. This means the person who emailed you regarding your $3,450 unpaid overtime and superannuation claim may have been legally granted the power to request those payroll documents from your former employer.

However, there are strict rules about who can receive these powers. For certain high-level tasks, such as the power to "give an FWO notice"^[1], the delegation must be made to a staff member who is an SES employee (Senior Executive Service) or an acting SES employee^[1].

Whether the specific email you received is legitimate depends on whether the individual signing it has been properly delegated those powers by the Fair Work Ombudsman. While the law allows for this, it does not automatically mean every staff member has this power; it only means the power *can* be given to them if they meet the required criteria.

Statutory Citations

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