Fair Work Ombudsman
Citation: FWO-2024-02-15-cba-penalty-media-release
At a glance
- Penalty
- $10,340,000
What happened
The Federal Court imposed record penalties of $10.34 million against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and its subsidiary Commonwealth Securities Limited (CommSec) after the Fair Work Ombudsman proved the companies had underpaid employees more than $16 million. CBA and CommSec admitted multiple breaches of the Fair Work Act, including serious contraventions committed knowingly and systematically. Serious contraventions attract a tenfold increase in applicable maximum penalties. The breaches related to failures in the companies' system of Enterprise Agreements and Individual Flexibility Arrangements, including missing the required regular reconciliations and top-up payments needed to ensure minimum lawful entitlements.
What was decided
The Federal Court imposed a $7.31 million penalty against CBA and a $3.03 million penalty against CommSec. Justice Robert Bromwich found senior staff were aware of the underpayments. The penalties were the highest ever secured in a Fair Work Ombudsman legal action at the time of the decision. This is an actual civil penalty ordered by the Federal Court, not an Enforceable Undertaking.
What it means for employers
If you use Individual Flexibility Arrangements or enterprise agreements instead of Awards, you must run regular reconciliations and pay top-ups to make sure employees still meet or exceed the minimum lawful entitlements. Set-and-forget IFAs are the root of a systemic breach. Where senior managers knew or ought to have known, serious contravention penalties (10x the normal maximum) apply.
What it means for employees
CBA and CommSec staff covered by enterprise agreements or Individual Flexibility Arrangements during the relevant period may have been underpaid. The court found the breaches were systemic and known. The banks have remediation programs in place. If you think you may be owed, contact the bank's remediation program or the FWO on 13 13 94.
Every statement above is drawn from the published decision. Read the original here:
https://www.fairwork.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/2024-media-releases/february-2024/20240215-cba-penalty-media-releaseWant more cases like this?
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This summary was drafted by AI from the published decision and reviewed before publishing. It is general information, not legal advice. For your specific situation, speak to the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) or a qualified lawyer. About these summaries & corrections →