Self-audit triggered by employee concern in 2023
An aged care provider in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory has agreed to repay more than $11.7 million in underpayments to about 5,500 employees after entering into an Enforceable Undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT), a not-for-profit organisation operating across 27 retirement communities and 27 residential care homes, underpaid workers over a period spanning July 2017 to October 2024. The underpayments covered overtime, weekend penalty rates, shift loadings, annual leave loading, and various allowances under its enterprise agreements.
The organisation identified the discrepancies following a self-audit initiated in 2023 after an employee raised concerns about overtime payments. It self-reported its non-compliance to the Fair Work Ombudsman in November 2023. A further review it commissioned found that provisions relating to overtime, allowances, and shift penalties had been applied incorrectly.
Affected workers included home care employees, assistants in nursing, registered and enrolled nurses, facility managers, diversional therapists, cooks, and handypersons employed on casual, full-time, and part-time bases.
Southern Cross Care attributed the underpayments to faults in its time and attendance system and a manual payroll process that was inconsistent with enterprise agreement requirements.
As of the announcement, the organisation...
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