The Fair Work Ombudsman, Australia’s workplace watchdog, has launched legal action against Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd alleging it underpaid more than 7,500 salaried employees a total of AUD 115 million (USD 81.7 million).
Coles Group Limited disclosed to the Ombudsman and the Australian Securities Exchange in 2020 that it was reviewing the pay of award-covered, salaried employees in its liquor and supermarket businesses.
The Fair Work Ombudsman assessed the wages and entitlements of thousands of salaried Coles employees, finding Coles had allegedly underpaid 7,812 employees a total of AUD 115.2 million (USD 81.8 million) between 1 January 2017 and 31 March 2020.
The workplace watchdog alleges that most of the underpayments were the result of Coles paying salaried employees annual salaries that were insufficient to cover their minimum lawful entitlements, given they generally performed significant amounts of overtime work. It also alleges that Coles’ remediation program has significantly underestimated amounts owed to the employees and that more than AUD 108 million (USD 76.7 million) remains outstanding.
“Businesses paying annual salaries cannot take a ‘set-and-forget’ approach to paying their workers. Employers must ensure wages being paid are sufficient to cover all minimum lawful entitlements for the hours their employees are actually working and the work they are actually doing,” Sandra Parker, the Fair Work Ombudsman, said.
The allegedly underpaid Coles’...
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