The Fair Work Ombudsman has succeeded in an unpaid entitlements claim against the Woolworths Group in a case brought by the FWO against the company alleging underpayment of award entitlements.
The crux of the legal argument which was accepted by the Federal Court was that it is impermissible for an employer to pay staff remuneration which is based upon a formula by which the employees received more than the award entitlements calculated on an annual basis rather than the period prescribed by the industrial instrument, in this case a two week payroll cycle. In other words it is unlawful for an employer to calculate entitlements which it asserts exceed what would have been earned under the industrial instrument (in this case) on an annual basis rather than the amount which would have been payable under the terms of an applicable industrial instrument for the particular pay cycle prescribed by the industrial instrument.
Fair Work Ombudsman v Woolworths Group Limited [2025] FCA 1092