Woolworths class action estimates underpayment bill as high as $620m
Wage scandal
By Anna Patty
December 2, 2019 — 12.00am
A class action lawsuit against Woolworths over the $300 million underpayment of workers has begun in the Federal Court with claims the case will expose "industry-wide" problems.
Former night manager Cameron Baker is leading the action on behalf of thousands of past and present Woolworths workers.
Former Woolworths night-fill manager Cameron Baker is launching a class action on behalf of thousands of underpaid workers. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui
Adero Law, which is representing Mr Baker, estimates the underpayment bill at $620 million.
Woolworths admitted last month it had underpaid nearly 6000 staff as much as $300 million since 2010 after a review of its latest enterprise agreement.
A spokesman for Woolworths said it doesn't "understand how" Adero arrived at their estimate.
"We have taken a view of up to 10 years and factored in all group businesses," the spokesman said.
Mr Baker is among a small number of managers who questioned why they were being paid less than less experienced employees they were managing.
"I saw that my team members, the people I manage, were going to be paid more than me when the new enterprise agreement came into place last year," he said.
Adero lodged a statement of claim in the Federal Court on Friday and say Mr Baker could be owed more than $150,000 in unpaid overtime and other benefits during his five years of employment.
Adero's managing principal Rory Markham said Woolworths and other large retail employers had either deliberately or negligently failed to pay their salaried staff in line with the award.
He said the class action "strikes at the longstanding, industry-wide problem of large corporate employers taking advantage of staff merely because they are paid a salary".
The Woolworths spokesman said it will "fully defend the proceedings".
"We believe the class action proceedings are without merit," he said.
The spokesman said Woolworths made a commitment on October 30 to fully rectify all payment shortfalls to all affected workers.
"Woolworths Group continues to work towards making substantial interim payments, including superannuation contributions and interest, before Christmas to all affected current and former salaried supermarkets and metro store team members for the two years reviewed to date (September 2017 to August 2019)," the spokesman said.
When Woolworths estimated it owed workers between $200 to $300 million in October it based this estimate on an external review of employee data.
Adero also alleges Woolworths took advantage of salaried employees by increasing their workload so they were physically unable to complete their duties within their regular eight-hour shift.
It said the only alternative was for these managers to work through their breaks, start early and finish late.
Mr Baker said he was angry to have missed out on the benefits of higher pay.
"I'm angry like a lot of people," he said. "It was a missed opportunity. My wife and I have a mortgage on our apartment – maybe we would have cut down on interest."
Anna Patty
Anna Patty is Workplace Editor for The Sydney Morning Herald. She is a former Education Editor, State Political Reporter and Health Reporter.