Further $1.67 million underpayments found during audit process
Two entities of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) were fined a total $48,000 for underpaying long service leave entitlements to 17 employees.
CommSec and BankWest were each fined $18,000 and ordered to pay combined costs of $12,000 after pleading guilty in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria.
CommSec pleaded guilty after failing to pay more than $38,334 in long service leave entitlements to eight former employees. BankWest also pleaded guilty for underpaying over $22,847 in long service leave entitlements to nine former employees.
Honour Magistrate Kathryn Fawcett did not record a conviction after considering the early guilty plea and no prior convictions, according to Wage Inspectorate Victoria.
However, she called out that system errors are not an excuse for underpayments and organisations with resources of the CBA should have measures in place to ensure employees are paid their correct entitlements.
Meanwhile, the audit process for the case further revealed that CBA entities underpaid 529 current and former staff $1.67 million in long service leave entitlements.
The offence took place between January 2012 and January 2021, according to the Wage Inspectorate Victoria.
According to ABC News, the underpayments of the people still employed by CBA had to be rectified but are not counted as an offence under Victoria's Long Service Leave Act 2018.
Robert Hortle, Commissioner of Wage Inspectorate Victoria, said it's "disappointing" that CBA-owned businesses have underpaid staff given their "significant HR resources."
"Boardrooms across the nation should be asking questions about their long service leave obligations and governance, given some of Australia’s biggest companies have now fallen foul of long service leave laws, including BankWest, CommSec, Optus, Woolworths, and Coles," Hortle said in a statement.
