'Genuinely sorry': Westpac apologises after $50m outlay on staff underpayments
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More news: Westpac has apologised for underpaying 47,000 of its staff over an 11-year period, confirming it has paid out $50 million in back-payments to all affected employees.
The lender said it uncovered the issues as part of an internal review in 2020 and "immediately moved to put things right".
Westpac's shares were down 1.6% to $38.83 at 12:20pm, in like with the ASX financial sectoral index.
What they said: "We’re genuinely sorry this happened," a Westpac spokesperson said.
"Paying our people correctly is a fundamental obligation which we take seriously and we apologise again to all affected employees," they said.
"As part of our comprehensive remediation program, 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."
Westpac pays $50m to 47,000 staff after decade of underpayments
The news: Westpac has back-paid nearly 47,000 staff more than $50 million and signed an enforceable undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman, following 11 years of underpayments.
The context: Fair Work said the underpayments were primarily caused by failures in Westpac’s systems, governance processes, and compliance oversight.
Further shortcomings included inadequate record-keeping, reliance on systems requiring manual adjustments, and input errors.
In breach of multiple Westpac enterprise agreements, employees were underpaid their casual loading and minimum wages for ordinary hours, as well as allowances such as for higher duties and weekend penalties, plus termination and leave payments.
The most common entitlements underpaid were incorrect deductions of leave and time off in lieu of public holidays, additional hours for part-time employees, superannuation, underpayments related to incorrect grade and classification levels, and meal allowances.
Fixing the deduction of leave and time off in lieu breaches meant 10,585 current employees had their leave balance adjusted, while former employees received a payment.
To date, Westpac has back-paid a total of more than $50.26 million, plus almost $9 million in interest and applicable superannuation, to nearly 47,000 current and former staff who were underpaid between January 2014 and February 2025.
Back-payments to individuals ranged from less than $5 to $56,085 in one instance. The average back payment was around $1,000.
The payments made to date include $90,490 owed to 372 former employees Westpac could not find, which it has paid to the Commonwealth of Australia unclaimed monies account.
Westpac must also make an $800,000 contrition payment to the Commonwealth Consolidated Revenue Fund.
What they said: “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.
“We expect better from large corporates such as Westpac. They must meet their legal obligations under their own enterprise agreements and underlying awards.”
The sources: Fair Work media release, Westpac statement
