Big four bank tells HRD it is 'genuinely sorry' for error
Westpac Banking Corporation has back-paid more than $50 million to nearly 47,000 employees who were underpaid by the bank for more than a decade.
A total of more than $50.26 million, plus almost $9 million in interest and applicable superannuation, has been back-paid to current and former employees who were underpaid between January 2014 and February 2025, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The payment also includes $90,490 in payments for 372 former staff members that the bank cannot find, which it directed to the Commonwealth of Australia Unclaimed Monies Account.
The average back-payment per employee was about $1,000, with the highest amount reaching $56,085 in one instance.
A spokesperson from Westpac told HRD that the issues were uncovered during its review in 2020.
"When we found them, we immediately moved to put things right," the spokesperson told HRD. "We're genuinely sorry this happened. Paying our people correctly is a fundamental obligation which we take seriously and we apologise again to all affected employees."
"As part of our comprehensive remediation programme, we repaid those affected including employees who have since left the company. We did not ask anyone who has been overpaid to repay any money."
"We've also updated our systems and processes, investing significantly to better manage entitlements."
Cause of underpayments
The underpayment stems from failures in Westpac's systems, governance processes, and compliance oversight, according to the FWO. The bank also had shortcomings in record-keeping, input errors, and reliance on systems requiring manual adjustments.
As a result, full-time and part-time employees of Westpac were underpaid their casual loading and minimum wages for ordinary hours; allowances such as for higher duties and weekend penalties; termination payments, leave payments, and others.
Underpaid entitlements also include incorrect deduction of leave and time off in lieu of public holidays; additional hours for part-time employees; superannuation (under the enterprise agreements); underpayments related to incorrect grade and classification levels; and meal allowances.
"The matter serves as a warning of the significant long-running problems that can result from an employer failing to have appropriate checks and balances to ensure workplace compliance," said Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth in a statement.
"We expect better from large corporates such as Westpac. They must meet their legal obligations under their own enterprise agreements and underlying awards."
Westpac has entered an Enforceable Undertaking with the FWO, and must also make an additional $800,000 contrition payment to the Commonwealth Consolidated Revenue Fund.
"Under the Enforceable Undertaking, it has committed to rectifying any future underpayments it identifies in full, plus interest and superannuation, and implementing stringent measures to ensure all staff are paid correctly in future," Booth said.
"This includes commissioning an independent audit to check compliance with workplace laws, and reporting back to the FWO about its findings."
