Coles scandal exposed: $25 million in underpaid wages
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Members, we bring you a surprising turn of events – a scandalous revelation that has come to light regarding one of our country's largest supermarket chains, Coles.
It appears that Coles has admitted to yet another $25 million in underpaid wages! This recent discovery comes on top of the already acknowledged $20 million in underpayments identified back in 2020.
Between 2014 and 2020, Coles shortchanged approximately 600 salaried managers. This prompted a thorough review of payment arrangements for all salaried staff covered by the General Retail Industry Award (GRIA).
The story doesn't end here, though. In 2021, Coles incurred $13 million in remediation costs and set aside a further $12 million as a provision. However, ongoing investigations have discovered that the owed amount has climbed to an extra $25 million for salaried managers.
This shocking news follows the recent confession by global mining giant BHP, which admitted to owing 28,500 workers up to $430 million in back pay due to miscalculations of public holiday leave over several years.
The underpayment fiasco involving Coles has given rise to a class action that accuses the supermarket giant of underpaying staff by a whopping $150 million. Furthermore, a separate legal action has been initiated by the Fair Work Ombudsman in the Federal Court.
According to the Ombudsman, 7,805 salaried employees were underpaid, a staggering $113.8 million, with about $107 million remaining outstanding. Underpayments reportedly range from insufficient salaries covering overtime work to amounts under the company's remediation program.
Coles, acknowledging its mistake, announced on Friday an additional $25 million provision to compensate the underpaid salaried employees. In an ASX announcement, they stated, 'Coles has continued to work diligently in relation to these issues.'
'Coles advises that following further consideration of the issues as they have evolved, it intends to conduct further remediation relating to the reconciliation of available records of the days and hours of work of salaried supermarket managers.'
'Coles apologises unreservedly to affected team members,' they continued.
In February, it was revealed that two of Australia's largest fashion retailers would compensate their employees for underpayments, totalling over $4 million, affecting approximately 7,000 workers.
Both David Jones, a department store, and Politix, a fashion retailer under the Country Road brand, admitted to underpaying their staff. As part of their restitution, they will also make a combined contrition payment of nearly $300,000.
These discrepancies were reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman by the companies in September 2020. The underpayments extended beyond Politix, as the Country Road Group, encompassing brands such as Country Road, Trenery, Witchery, and Mimco, also experienced similar issues.
Politix acknowledged that approximately 850 employees were underpaid a total of around $2.06 million in wages, along with approximately $45,000 in superannuation contributions, spanning from November 2016 to September 2020.
In the case of David Jones, roughly 2,800 employees were affected, with a total underpayment of approximately $480,000 in wages. Additionally, around $1.4 million in superannuation was not properly provided to approximately 6,100 employees. These discrepancies occurred between April 2014 and September 2020.
Coles now awaits the court's decision concerning other matters, including the interpretation of the GRIA and Fair Work Act. We at the Seniors Discount Club will continue to monitor this situation and keep our members updated on any further developments.
Stay tuned, and don't forget to share this information with your fellow members and friends, ensuring we all remain in the know about the businesses we support.
What are your thoughts on this news, members? Let us know in the comments section below!
It appears that Coles has admitted to yet another $25 million in underpaid wages! This recent discovery comes on top of the already acknowledged $20 million in underpayments identified back in 2020.
Between 2014 and 2020, Coles shortchanged approximately 600 salaried managers. This prompted a thorough review of payment arrangements for all salaried staff covered by the General Retail Industry Award (GRIA).
The story doesn't end here, though. In 2021, Coles incurred $13 million in remediation costs and set aside a further $12 million as a provision. However, ongoing investigations have discovered that the owed amount has climbed to an extra $25 million for salaried managers.
This shocking news follows the recent confession by global mining giant BHP, which admitted to owing 28,500 workers up to $430 million in back pay due to miscalculations of public holiday leave over several years.
Coles is the latest company to admit it must cough up money for underpaying workers. Credit: Shutterstock.
The underpayment fiasco involving Coles has given rise to a class action that accuses the supermarket giant of underpaying staff by a whopping $150 million. Furthermore, a separate legal action has been initiated by the Fair Work Ombudsman in the Federal Court.
According to the Ombudsman, 7,805 salaried employees were underpaid, a staggering $113.8 million, with about $107 million remaining outstanding. Underpayments reportedly range from insufficient salaries covering overtime work to amounts under the company's remediation program.
Coles, acknowledging its mistake, announced on Friday an additional $25 million provision to compensate the underpaid salaried employees. In an ASX announcement, they stated, 'Coles has continued to work diligently in relation to these issues.'
'Coles advises that following further consideration of the issues as they have evolved, it intends to conduct further remediation relating to the reconciliation of available records of the days and hours of work of salaried supermarket managers.'
'Coles apologises unreservedly to affected team members,' they continued.
In February, it was revealed that two of Australia's largest fashion retailers would compensate their employees for underpayments, totalling over $4 million, affecting approximately 7,000 workers.
Both David Jones, a department store, and Politix, a fashion retailer under the Country Road brand, admitted to underpaying their staff. As part of their restitution, they will also make a combined contrition payment of nearly $300,000.
Two of Australia's biggest fashion retailers will pay back more than $4 million to 7000 employees who were underpaid. Credit: Unsplash/Dylandgillis.
These discrepancies were reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman by the companies in September 2020. The underpayments extended beyond Politix, as the Country Road Group, encompassing brands such as Country Road, Trenery, Witchery, and Mimco, also experienced similar issues.
Politix acknowledged that approximately 850 employees were underpaid a total of around $2.06 million in wages, along with approximately $45,000 in superannuation contributions, spanning from November 2016 to September 2020.
In the case of David Jones, roughly 2,800 employees were affected, with a total underpayment of approximately $480,000 in wages. Additionally, around $1.4 million in superannuation was not properly provided to approximately 6,100 employees. These discrepancies occurred between April 2014 and September 2020.
Coles now awaits the court's decision concerning other matters, including the interpretation of the GRIA and Fair Work Act. We at the Seniors Discount Club will continue to monitor this situation and keep our members updated on any further developments.
Stay tuned, and don't forget to share this information with your fellow members and friends, ensuring we all remain in the know about the businesses we support.
What are your thoughts on this news, members? Let us know in the comments section below!
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