Australian supermarket giants Woolworths and Coles now face the prospect of a combined bill exceeding A$1 billion in relation to the alleged underpayment of close to 30,000 staff over several years.
These alarming liabilities were raised in statements issued by each company to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) on Monday, with updates to their estimated costs in the wake of a key Federal Court ruling on Friday.
It’s been a long-running matter. In 2021, the Fair Work Ombudsman commenced proceedings against Coles and Woolworths in the Federal Court, alleging the supermarket giants had made a series of underpayments dating back to 2015.
