Recently the Fair Work Ombudsman communicated that Westpac underpaid nearly 47,000 staff over 11 years, breaching multiple enterprise agreements by failing to pay casual loadings, minimum wages for ordinary hours, allowances (higher duties and weekend penalties), leave entitlements, termination payments, and superannuation.

Errors also included incorrect deductions for leave and public holidays, underpayment of additional hours for part-time staff, misclassification, and unpaid meal allowances. Total back-payments exceeded a whopping $50 million, plus interest and super. These breaches exposed Westpac to serious financial, reputational and legal risk.

Key lessons for businesses:

1. Audit payroll systems regularly: Ensure software calculates all wages, allowances, and super correctly. Check for manual entry errors or system gaps.
2. Maintain accurate records: Track hours, leave balances, allowances, classification levels, and pay rates to prevent errors and support audits.
3. Strengthen governance and oversight: Boards and leadership should monitor compliance, review audit findings, and enforce accountability for pay obligations.
4. Create safe employee channels: Provide clear reporting mechanisms for staff to raise concerns and respond promptly to prevent issues escalating.
5. Provide ongoing training: Educate managers, HR, and payroll staff on legal obligations, award entitlements, and enterprise agreement requirements to reduce human error and risk.

Engaging an independent consultant, like Capture Culture People & Risk Solutions, makes sense because we provide an objective, expert review of payroll and compliance processes.

We can identify hidden risks, uncover past or systemic underpayments, benchmark practices against legal requirements, and recommend improvements that internal teams may overlook. This independent perspective not only helps prevent costly financial penalties and criminal exposure but also protects your organisation’s reputation and ensures that employee entitlements are fully met.

Contact us today at capture@ccpeopleandrisk.com or Elisa Luck on 0432 486 115.