Compensation Benefits
Westpac refunds more than $50 million in wages after decade-long underpayment errors
Nearly 47,000 Westpac employees have been repaid after payroll errors spanning more than a decade, prompting an enforceable undertaking and tighter compliance measures.
Westpac has paid back more than $50 million to staff after an internal review uncovered long-running payroll mistakes that went unnoticed for years. The repayment comes after the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) began looking into the bank’s wage and entitlement practices, eventually confirming that the problems were rooted in outdated systems, manual workarounds and weak oversight that allowed errors to accumulate over time.
The FWO found that the underpayments stretched across roughly 11 years and touched almost 47,000 people who worked at the bank during that period. The shortfalls weren’t limited to one area — they included missed casual loadings, incorrect minimum pay rates, higher duties and weekend penalties, as well as errors in leave and termination payments. In some cases, the bank also failed to calculate superannuation correctly, adding to the extent of the issue.
So far, Westpac has paid back more than $50.26 million, along with close to $9 million in interest and superannuation. Individual back-payments varied significantly — from a few dollars to more than $56,000 — with the average amount sitting at around $1,000. A further $90,490 has been transferred to the federal unclaimed monies fund for former staff members who could not be contacted.
As part of its resolution with the regulator, Westpac has entered into an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) that includes an $800,000 “contrition payment” to the Commonwealth and a requirement to commission an independent audit of its payroll practices. The bank will also be required to strengthen its governance, review its compliance processes, and guarantee that any future underpayments are corrected in full with interest.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the EU was appropriate given Westpac’s cooperation and its efforts to repay staff well beyond the standard six-year look-back period. The bank, which self-reported the issues in 2020, said it has since upgraded its systems and apologised to all affected employees, adding that no one was asked to return money in cases where they had been overpaid.
The FWO found that the underpayments stretched across roughly 11 years and touched almost 47,000 people who worked at the bank during that period. The shortfalls weren’t limited to one area — they included missed casual loadings, incorrect minimum pay rates, higher duties and weekend penalties, as well as errors in leave and termination payments. In some cases, the bank also failed to calculate superannuation correctly, adding to the extent of the issue.
So far, Westpac has paid back more than $50.26 million, along with close to $9 million in interest and superannuation. Individual back-payments varied significantly — from a few dollars to more than $56,000 — with the average amount sitting at around $1,000. A further $90,490 has been transferred to the federal unclaimed monies fund for former staff members who could not be contacted.
As part of its resolution with the regulator, Westpac has entered into an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) that includes an $800,000 “contrition payment” to the Commonwealth and a requirement to commission an independent audit of its payroll practices. The bank will also be required to strengthen its governance, review its compliance processes, and guarantee that any future underpayments are corrected in full with interest.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the EU was appropriate given Westpac’s cooperation and its efforts to repay staff well beyond the standard six-year look-back period. The bank, which self-reported the issues in 2020, said it has since upgraded its systems and apologised to all affected employees, adding that no one was asked to return money in cases where they had been overpaid.
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