Woolworths faces more than 1,000 criminal charges after it allegedly failed to pay hundreds of its workers long-service leave
- Woolworths allegedly underpaid 1,235 former employees
- Lawsuit Related to Long Service Leave Entitlements
- Victorian Wages Inspectorate claims over $1m unpaid
Woolworths faces more than 1,000 criminal charges for allegedly failing to pay more than $1 million to former employees.
The Victorian Wages Inspectorate launched a legal action in Melbourne Magistrates Court alleging that Woolworths and its subsidiary Woolstar paid less than $1 million to 1,235 former Victorian employees on long-service leave.
In a review of its payroll systems, the supermarket giant self-reported the payment error to the state agency.
The offense could leave the company liable for up to around $10,000 for each day the underpayment occurred.
This is because it is a criminal offense for an employer to fail to pay for long-term services when the leave applies to casual, full-time, and contract employees.
The regulator alleges that the underpayments ranged from $250 to more than $12,000, and the affected employees worked at the company between 2018 and 2021.
The Victorian Wages Inspectorate launched an action in Melbourne Magistrates Court alleging that Woolworths and its subsidiary Woolstar paid less than $1 million to 1,235 former Victorian employees on long-service leave.
A Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia in a review of their payroll systems, they themselves reported the payment error to the state agency and made the appropriate late payments and corrected leave balances.
Around 1999, Woolworths allegedly underpaid employees a total of $960,000, while Woolstar underpaid 36 employees by $45,000.
A Woolworths spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the error was found during a comprehensive review of its payroll systems.
“We self-reported these matters to the Victorian Wages Inspectorate in February 2022,” a Woolworths spokesperson said.
“Since 2019, the group has carried out an extensive end-to-end review of its payroll systems and processes.
‘As a result, discrete instances of potential non-compliance related to long service leave were identified.
“Since then, we have made late payments or corrected leave balances to affected team members, including interest and retirement.
“We apologize to the affected team members and have strengthened our payroll systems to address the long-service leave issues we identified.”
Victorian Wages Inspectorate Commissioner Robert Hortle said long service leave was a valuable employment right.
“Victorians expect companies with significant payroll resources to get this right,” he said.
‘They would be disappointed to see a big name facing allegations of underpayment.
‘The amount of underpayment never tells the whole story in long service leave matters.
Around 1999, Woolworths allegedly underpaid employees by a total of $960,000, while Woolstar underpaid 36 employees by $45,000.
‘It’s hard to put a value on the licenses that were initially denied to workers.
‘Time that could have been spent with family, traveling or just relaxing.’
The inspection was set up by the Andrews government in 2021 after a union pressured states to penalize underpayments.
As part of Victoria’s long service law of 2018, workers are granted long service leave after seven years and employers must pay any unused entitlements once the employee leaves their job.
The inspectorate also has cases against Optus, CommSec and BankWest in court, alleging breaches of Victoria’s long-service leave laws.
The first hearing on the matter will begin on September 6.
