Woolworths underpaid workers by up to $300 million

Supermarket giant Woolworths has admitted to underpaying 5700 staff as much as $300 million dollars.

In a statement this morning, the retailer revealed it had failed to pay its salaried workers in compliance with the Retail Industry Award.

The company is now conducting a review of its entire workforces’ pay.

Woolworths says it will make the first back payments to affected workers before Christmas.

The underpayments could go back as far as 2010, with the company estimating the total cost to be between 200 and $300 million.

Gerard Dwyer, National Secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association, says the case is “a real call out for the whole retail industry”.

“We’re calling on all employers in retail to conduct a thorough audit on their payroll, with a particular focus on salaried staff because that’s where, so often, this problem is,” he told 3AW’s Neil Mitchell.

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Image: Peter Parks