Seven subsidiaries of Wesfarmers Industrial and Safety Pty Ltd (Wesfarmers) will back-pay more than $4.8 million to more than 3,400 underpaid employees nationally and have signed an Enforceable Undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Wesfarmers reported underpayment issues and a broader review found that because of payroll system errors adopted by Wesfarmers, which it failed to correct, more than 3,400 current and former full-time, part-time and casual employees had been underpaid by Wesfarmers entities and former Wesfarmers entities between January 2010 and June 2020.
Individual underpayments were up to $38,362 and the average underpayment was $1,392. It doesn’t end here; Wesfarmers also had to make a $100,000 contrition payment to the Commonwealth’s Consolidated Revenue Fund and also display notices that apologise for the contraventions across their Facebook pages, public websites and intranets. Wesfarmers also had to ensure relevant staff have the right training regarding workplace entitlements; run a hotline for employees; and give free taxation and financial advisory services to affected workers.
This highlights how important it is that businesses identify and fix non-compliance in their processes. We know you might not be in a position to invest the time and resources – let us do it for you – contact us today on (08) 8300 0000 (select option 1) or enquire here.
