"Fast fashion giant H&M investigated over multimillion-dollar underpayment claims", 1 November

Fast fashion giant H&M is under investigation by the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) amid claims that roughly 1,500 of its Australian staff were underpaid, potentially millions of dollars.

The Swedish company, which operates 34 stores across Australia, told SBS News it had launched a "comprehensive remediation process", including back pay for affected workers, after an internal audit uncovered payroll errors. [...]

In its statement to SBS, H&M said it had "self-reported identified errors" and was working with the FWO and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association (SDA) to rectify the issue. "Our people are our greatest strength, and we recognise the impact this situation has had. We are taking action to repay those affected, with the process already in motion," it said.

H&M said it had also redesigned its rostering and payroll systems to prevent future errors. [...]