Labor leader Bill Shorten has unveiled a suite of new policy measures designed to protect Australian workers from being ripped off by dodgy bosses.

In a pitch to voters that will sharpen the contrast between Labor and the Coalition over workplace laws, and which comes as the government prepares to try once more to pass laws to re-instate the Building and Construction Commission on Tuesday, Mr Shorten plans four key measures to protect workers' rights.

Labor leader Bill Shorten has unveiled new policy measures designed to protect workers' rights. Credit:Michelle Smith

Those measures are strong penalties for employers who underpay workers; stronger legal protections for workers entitlements and increased penalties for sham contracting; greater powers for the Fair Work Ombudsman to pursue companies that go into liquidation and do not pay out entitlements and; greater protections for overseas workers to stop them being underpaid.

The plan comes after a landmark investigation by Fairfax Media last year revealed workers at 7-Eleven stores were being massively underpaid and that payrolls were being doctored; separately, Fairfax also revealed that Pizza Hut was using sham contracting to pay drivers as little as $12 an hour, without superannuation.