The company has since taken steps to amend the error and compensate the workers
Queensland water service provider Sunwater has started back-paying employees a sum of $2.3m after the company discovered an error concerning its contract workers’ pay.
The government-owned corporation reported the discrepancy to the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) in 2019 and has since taken steps to amend the error and return the workers’ pay with interest.
Sunwater apologised for having breached the Fair Work Act 2009 by “failing to pay some employees in accordance with the Sunwater 2015-2018 Enterprise Agreement and its predecessor industrial agreements”.
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The company initially understood that contract employees were not covered by its enterprise agreements, and that the employees were thus ineligible for certain provisions stipulated in them.
The error, which also violated Australia’s workplace laws on record keeping, resulted in the underpayment of employees’ base pay, holiday pay, allowances and superannuation between 2006 and 2020. The highest amount owed to a worker during the 14-year period was $224,000.
“Sunwater has demonstrated a strong commitment to rectifying underpayments, and the Enforceable Undertaking commits the company to stringent measures to protect its workforce,” FWO Sandra Parker said.
“This includes engaging an expert auditing firm to conduct an independent assessment of the outcomes of its rectification program and to audit its compliance over the next two years.”
Sunwater will need to compensate all affected employees by October 31. It will also include a “contrition payment” of more than $100,000 payable to the federal government and equivalent to 4.5% of the sum owed to employees.
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The company is also required to send letters of apology to the Australian Service Union and Professionals Australia; open a hotline for workers with questions about their pay and entitlements; and post notices to the public stating its violations.
The FWO said the incident “serves as a warning to all organisations that they must prioritise workplace compliance”.
“Any employers who need help meeting their lawful workplace obligations should contact us,” Parker said.
