Fair Work Ombudsman
At a glance
- Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT)
- $11,700,000
- 5500
What happened
Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT) signed an Enforceable Undertaking with the Fair Work Ombudsman and will rectify more than $11.7 million in underpayments, including interest and superannuation, to 5,500 staff. The not-for-profit aged care, home care and retirement living provider operates 27 retirement communities and 27 residential care homes in NSW and the ACT. Affected workers included home care employees, assistants in nursing, registered and enrolled nurses, facility managers, diversional therapists, cooks and handypersons across casual, full-time and part-time roles. The cause was issues with the time and attendance system combined with a manual payroll process inconsistent with enterprise agreement requirements, plus incorrect application of overtime, allowances and shift penalty clauses.
What was decided
Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT) entered an EU with the FWO and has rectified the large majority of underpayments. The $11.7 million is remediation plus interest and superannuation, not a civil penalty. It agreed to broad compliance measures under the EU.
What it means for employers
Manual workarounds layered over time and attendance systems are a recurring aged care compliance failure. Where the enterprise agreement has complex overtime, shift penalty and allowance clauses, the payroll system needs to enforce them automatically. Mixed casual, part-time and full-time workforces make the exposure worse, not better, when controls fail.
What it means for employees
Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT) home care, nursing, facility management, therapy, catering and maintenance staff should check whether their overtime, shift penalties and allowances were paid correctly. The organisation is contacting affected staff as part of the remediation program.
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