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It has now entered into an enforceable undertaking with the FWO.
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Employees back-paid $17m by a community health organisation
08 July 2022
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9 minute read
Community health and aged services organisation Silver Chain Group Limited has back-paid over 2,300 current and former staff more than $17 million and entered into an enforceable undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman.
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The not-for-profit organisation self-reported to the FWO in 2020 after becoming aware of the underpayments after a review initiated by employee concerns.
They found that from 2013 to 2021 employees in Silver Chain’s Western Australian locations were underpaid the entitlements set out in their enterprise agreement.
Over 2,300 current and former employees were affected and back-paid including superannuation and interest with some individual payments amounting to over $50,000.
Of the underpaid employees most worked part-time in care aide, home help and therapy assistant positions, however some casual and full-time employees were also found to be affected.
The FWO found that the underpayments were a result of systematic failures that were specific to Silver Chain’s Western Australia operations and were focused on when changes were made to employees’ scheduled shifts the organisation failed to adjust their pay and entitlements accordingly.
Unpaid overtime was the main source of the systematic underpayment however employees were also underpaid superannuation entitlements.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said that having the organisation enter into an enforceable undertaking was appropriate as Silver Chain had cooperated and demonstrated a commitment to rectifying underpayments.
“Under the enforceable undertaking, Silver Chain has committed to implementing stringent measures to ensure workers are being paid correctly,” said Ms Parker.
“These measures include engaging, at the company’s own cost, audits of its compliance with workplace laws over the next two years.”
Ms Parker also said that this case outlined how significant it was for organisations to ensure their systems and processes met their awards and agreements.
“In this matter, the limitations in how Silver Chain had set up its rostering system and its scheduling practices led to breaches of its enterprise agreements and a substantial back payment bill,” said Ms Parker.
“Any employer who needs help meeting their lawful obligations to their employees should contact the fair work ombudsman for free advice and assistance.”
Under the enforceable undertaking Silver Chain was also required to publish social media and website notices detailing its workplace law breaches.
The company also needs to provide evidence of improvements made to its payroll and rostering systems and implement a staff education and training campaign.
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