It means when you do something bad and do not get punished. For example, I cheated on my exam but did not get caught. I got away with it.

It's a slang. It kinda means 'to avoid blame or punishment. escape consequences,'. Typically you do something bad and you escape punishment, or something else. The thing you do is unnoticed. That sentence is saying, 'how can the company pay them low wage without getting punished for it.' The kidnapper got away with the child. ---he took the child. You can't get away with that! ---the thing you did, you will be punished for it. Larry got by with the lie-- He lied without anyone noticing. She cheated on the test and thought she could get away with it---She didn't think she would get punished.

In this context, it means that the speaker cannot understand how the company is able to retain or keep the clerical staff when it pays such a small amount of money to them. Another example of when you see "get away with" is as follows: If a child is behaving badly, one might say to the parent "Why do you let him get away with such poor behavior?"

Thank you.

excellent explanation Maria!