Coles, Woolies staff stuck in mass underpayment case
Sep 05, 2025
New Daily.
Allegations of rampant employee underpayment at Coles and Woolworths that affected almost 30,000 staff remain unresolved two years after a lengthy trial.
The Federal Court on Friday handed down a judgment on four cases against the supermarket giants after a watchdog argued there was tacit approval of illegal conduct in many stores.
Woolworths and Coles have repaid $330 million and $7 million respectively to managers who were not properly paid entitlements due to them as salaried employees.
But the Fair Work Ombudsman and former grocery store employees behind two class actions say the market leaders should be forced to pay more.
The watchdog argued the relevant award set out a 38-hour work week but there was tacit approval to allow people to work overtime regularly.
It claims there were failures in the use of “informal” rosters, time off in lieu and record-keeping on overtime, penalties and allowances.
But Woolworths said some employees were authorised to work up to 45 hours a week and they were not required to do overtime beyond that.
Coles argued managers had autonomy over their hours and the estimates of working hours and days were overestimated by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
Justice Nye Perram on Friday found both supermarket chains did not comply with their obligation to keep accurate employment records.
He noted Coles failed to operate an overtime system for managers and its clocking records were unreliable.
One of the lead litigants, who mostly managed the customer service desk, likely worked on days when she was not rostered so roster sheets were not indicative of the hours worked, the judge said.
Her phone records could better demonstrate when she was at work, the judge found, while dismissing Coles’s arguments she had not missed unpaid meal breaks.
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