Woolworths is facing court action from the wages umpire alleging the retail giant has failed to compensate its employees properly in a move that could see its previously reported $390 million underpayments bill blow out further.
Fair Work Ombudsman investigators looked at the records of 70 managers at Woolworths stores and based on their calculations, claims they were underpaid $1.17 million over just one year from March 2018. In court documents, the ombudsman alleges $713,395 of that has not been backpaid by Woolworths.Dylan Coker
There were 19,000 salaried managerial staff at Woolworths over the period the ombudsman is looking at and the court action signals it believes many of them may have been underpaid. Among the staff the ombudsman has looked at, the highest alleged individual underpayment was $85,905.