On the Run failed to accurately identify employees as shift workers
Service station giant On the Run (OTR) is back-paying and crediting about $2.3 million in annual leave entitlements to over 1,500 employees that it failed to properly classify as shift workers.
OTR is back-paying 934 former employees more than $975,000, including $792,685 in annual leave, $138,720 in leave loading, and $48,415 in interest.
The service station giant has also credited to 590 current employees more than 43,900 hours of annual leave, which is worth about $1.3 million in entitlements including leave loading.
The back-payments ranged from about $12 to $6,189, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), with the average back-payment about $1,050 including leave loading and interest.
Affected staff include full- or part-time workers, mainly console operators or roadhouse attendants, who did not receive their full annual leave entitlements between July 2018 and February 2023, the FWO said.
They came from various places in Australia, including South Australia, Victoria, as well as Western Australia.
According to the FWO, a majority of the affected employees have already been back-paid, with OTR required to finish the back-payment process by July 2024.
OTR underpayments
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The Fair Work Ombudsman said they previously launched an investigation against OTR after receiving a large number of employee queries.
Its investigation, which included inspections and interviews, revealed that OTR failed to accurately identify employees as shift workers, which left annual leave accrual entitlements unmet.
OTR responded with its own review, where it discovered that a total of 1,524 employees did not get their full annual leave entitlements between July 2018 and February 2023.
Enforceable Undertaking with FWO
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said OTR was a case of an employer failing to identify employees as shift workers, which led to long-term breaches and significant underpayments.
"Large employers need to place a much higher priority on having systems and processes in place that ensure employees' full lawful entitlements are met, year-in, year-out," Booth said in a statement.
As a result of the underpayments, OTR has entered an Enforceable Undertaking with the FWO.
"Under the Enforceable Undertaking, On the Run has committed to implementing stringent measures to ensure all its workers are paid correctly. These measures include commissioning, at their own cost, an independent auditor to check it is appropriately meeting annual leave entitlements," Booth said.
It also mandates OTR to pay $150,000 to the Commonwealth's Consolidated Revenue fund.