Given recent underpayment scandals, it is clear that payroll
compliance is going to be a key focus area for the Fair Work
Ombudsman (FWO) and the Federal Government in
2020. Employers who do not review their payroll systems and
practices risk facing significant penalties because of
non-compliance with their payroll obligations.
Underpayment and payroll compliance scandals involving large,
well-known companies in Australia have dominated news headlines
recently. In August 2019, news broke that celebrity chef George
Calombaris underpaid workers in his MAdE Establishment Group by
$7.8 million between 2011 and 2017. In October 2019, Wesfarmers
self-reported "errors in the payment of team members" of
an estimated $15 million. This month has seen Coles admit to
underpaying its employees by $20 million and Target admitting to
underpaying its salary staff by $9 million. Perhaps the biggest
underpayment headline was the news in late October 2019 that
Woolworths had underpaid
