"Wesfarmers workers win $4.8m in backpay", 7 February 2023

Wesfarmers will back pay $4.8m to more than 3400 current and former employees of its industrial and safety division and make a $100,000 contrition payment to the federal government under an agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The underpayments over a decade included penalty rates, annual leave and overtime ­entitlements.

The back payments will be made by seven subsidiaries of Wesfarmers Industrial and Safety, which operate three main businesses: Blackwoods, the Workwear Group and Coregas.

The businesses supply industrial and safety products and ­services, work clothing and uniforms, industrial gases and installations, and environmental and consulting services.

WIS reported underpayment issues by its entities and two now-former subsidiaries, Greencap and Trimevac in 2019 after implementing a new payroll system across the corporate group.

WIS said then that its “preliminary estimate” of the total amount unpaid since 2010, ­including interest, was about $15m, of which it said almost half related to superannuation on loadings and allowances. It estimated 2000 current employees and 4000 former staff were affected.

[...]