Woolworths facing criminal charges over long service leave underpayments

Supermarket giant Woolworths is facing more than 1000 criminal charges for allegedly failing to pay more than $1 million in long service leave to some of its Victorian staff.

The charges were filed in the Victorian Magistrates' Court today against both Woolworths Group Limited and its subsidiary Woolstar Pty Limited.

Wage Inspectorate Victoria alleges the companies failed to pay more than $1 million in long service leave entitlements to 1235 former employees between 2018 and 2021.

READ MORE: Battle lines drawn as farmers fight green energy masts

The regulator alleges the underpayments ranged from $250 to more than $12,000.

Wage Inspectorate Victoria Commissioner Robert Hortle said long service leave was a valued workplace entitlement.

"Victorians expect businesses with significant payroll resources to get this stuff right," he said.

"They'd be disappointed to see a household name facing underpayment allegations.

"The amount of underpayment never tells the full story in long service leave matters.

"It's hard to put a value on the leave workers were initially denied.

"Time that could have been spent with family, travelling or just relaxing."

According to the regulator, the Woolworths Group allegedly failed to pay more than $960,000 in long service leave entitlements to 1199 former employees.

Woolstar allegedly failed to pay more than $45,000 in long service leave entitlements to 36 former employees.

Failing to pay long service leave entitlements is a criminal offence in Victoria and can come with hefty fines.

READ MORE: DNA test could solve 60-year-old mystery

A Woolworths spokesman told 9news.com.au the group had undertaken an extensive end-to-end review of its payroll systems and processes since 2019.

The spokesperson said the company self-reported the findings to Wage Inspectorate Victoria in February 2022.

"As a result, discrete instances of potential non-compliance in relation to long service leave were identified," the spokesman said.

"We have since made back payments or corrected leave balances to affected team members, including interest and superannuation.

"We have apologised to affected team members and strengthened our payroll systems to address the long service leave issues we identified.

"As this matter is now before the Court, it would not be appropriate to comment further."

The regulator has cases against Optus, CommSec and BankWest before the court, alleging breaches of Victoria's long service leave laws.

The first hearing for the matter with begin on September 6.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.