
Woolworths' staff underpayments rise to $315m - and counting
Woolworths has upped its estimated staff underpayments to $315 million and says the final amount could still be higher once a review into the nine-year scandal is complete.
Woolworths has upped its estimated staff underpayments to $315 million and says the final amount could still be higher once a review into the nine-year scandal is complete.
Wesfarmers has revealed it underpaid staff at its Target stores by $9m, on top of $15m in other underpayments, becoming the latest Australian company caught up in a growing wage theft scandal the shoppies’ union has branded a “full blown epidemic”.
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The collapse of George Calombaris’ restaurant empire was prompted by a $7m wage underpayment scandal. Other celebrity chefs have been caught out, too. The bitter truth of Australia’s hospitality industry is that staff exploitation is not the exception but the norm, argue Richard Robinson and Matthew Brenner.
Woolworths has told investors it expects the bill from its wages underpayment scandal to come in at the lower end of the $200 million to $300 million range it previously flagged, even as more cases come to light.
Commonwealth Bank will hand over as much as $53.1 million it owes staff in unpaid entitlements.
More than $300,000 has been returned to cafe and restaurant workers after a tactical Fair Work sting at four capital city food hotspots found 75 per cent of businesses were breaking the law.