Furniture chain Super A-Mart ordered to pay out more than $1.3 million in back pay

Furniture retailer Super-A-Mart will be forced to pay out more than $1.3 million in back pay for nearly 900 staff in accordance with a ruling from the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The incident is only the latest legal tussle Super-A-Mart has faced over the past two years. Last year furniture chain Nick Scali launched legal action against the company in Federal Court over alleged misleading and deceptive conduct, while in 2009, the company was chided by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commissions over some unclear advertisements.

This is also the first time in just over a year that Fair Work has attacked a major retailer for failing to pay staff. In July 2010, Cotton On was discovered to have failed to pay staff for training sessions.

In this latest ruling, the Fair Work Ombudsman found that stores were requiring staff to start work earlier than they were rostered in order to prepare locations for opening and closing. However, the company did not pay them for this time.

An investigation was prompted by a former staff member, which found each employee is owed an average of more than $1,500, with the work in question occurring during March 2006 and March 2010.

“The company also failed to pay workers for attending staff meetings and information sessions outside their rostered shifts, again, which they were not paid for.”

Super-A-Mart had voluntarily reimbursed all outstanding entitlements, but the FWO wanted the company to conduct a self-audit as well. It said the contraventions occurred due to a management communication breakdown.

Super-A-Mart chief financial officer Nik Wyman was contacted this morning, but was unable for comment prior to publication.

As part of the enforceable undertaking, Super-A-Mart will donate $120,000 to the Working Women’s Centre in Queensland, reimburse all pay within two months, write a letter of apology, conduct a paid meeting to explain the problem and issue a memo to be displayed in all stores and on the website for 30 days.

The business will also place an advertisement in The Australian apologising for the breach, make all store managers attend workplace relations training, commission a new workplace relations manual for staff, and then report back to Fair Work every year for the next three years.

Ombudsman Nicholas Wilson says the ruling is a warning for other businesses that they cannot make staff attend and start work earlier than the beginning of their rostered shift, and notes that a small mistake can result in a “hefty bill”.

“The contravention points to the need for all employers, large and small, to constantly check they are meeting their obligations to their staff and the Fair Work Ombudsman is a good place to start.”