A South Australian allied health services charity has signed an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman to improve its workplace compliance after underpayments exceeding $76,000.
Townsend House Inc self-reported non-compliance to the FWO in April 2023.
Eighty employees were underpaid their base rates and overtime rates between September 2017 and October 2022 that were owed under the charity's enterprise agreements.
Townsend House advised that the underpayments were due to having misunderstood the treatment of additional hours employees had worked, combined with payroll system errors.
The FWO's investigation to check the integrity of the charity's remediation program uncovered a failure to comply with an undertaking Townsend House had given in 2018 to the Fair Work Commission (which is different to and separate from the FWO) as part of its approval of the enterprise agreement. The undertaking Townsend House failed to comply with related to overtime rates it would pay to its part-time employees.
The charity provides services to children and young adults with developmental needs, as well as blindness and deafness. It forms part of the Can:Do Group and provides services through communication support, audiology clinics, hearing tests, hearing devices and aftercare services.
Affected employees worked in the Adelaide suburbs of Hindmarsh and Noarlunga and were engaged part-time or full-time as administrative and clerical employees; social and community services workers; health professionals providing clinical and audiology services; and interpreters.
The charity has back-paid all affected employees, with $76,804 rectified to 26 current and 54 former employees. This sum includes almost $11,000 in interest and about $1500 in superannuation.
Back-payments ranged from $23 to more than $7,700. The average underpayment was $960.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said Townsend House had committed to future compliance and transparency, and had already implemented a range of measures to ensure it met its obligations.
"Hard-working employees must not be underpaid, and undertakings given to the Fair Work Commission must not be breached," Ms Booth said.
"In this matter, we welcome Townsend House's cooperation with our investigation, the new management team's commitment to rectifying the underpayments, and the measures they have and will put in place to ensure current and future employees are paid everything they are owed.
"Employers must prioritise workplace compliance and ensure all their systems and processes align with the legal requirements of their own enterprise agreements, as well as any relevant awards and undertakings.
"We urge employers to take advantage of the array of free information and tools available on our website, such as our Pay Calculator," Ms Booth said.
As part of the EU, Townsend House must have relevant staff undertake workplace relations training that will cover the Fair Work Act's National Employment Standards and the minimum requirements under applicable industrial instruments.
Townsend House must also commission an independent audit of its workplace compliance and report its findings to the FWO; provide for forums that can report on issues and can accommodate union representatives if members wish to invite them; and commit to reviewing and amending its internal processes for reporting workplace relations issues to its board.
The EU acknowledges that Townsend House has already introduced a new payroll system; outsourced payroll to a specialised provider; established a new governance structure and updated its constitution; and established a forum for employees to discuss workplace relations issues with management.
