Sunwater to back-pay contract staff more than $2 million
Queensland government-owned water supplier Sunwater has admitted to underpaying some of its contract staff more than $2 million over 14 years.
The organisation reported the issue to the Fair Work Ombudsman last year after it was uncovered in an annual review of staff on individual contracts, which made up about one-quarter of its 429 staff in June.
Fairbairn Dam in Emerald is one of 19 owned and managed by Sunwater.Credit:File
Affected employees, largely technical specialists and managers, were underpaid base salaries, annual leave loading, on-call and relocation allowances, superannuation and accrued time-off-in lieu, the FWO said in a statement. Record-keeping laws were also breached.
A total of 73 of those workers underpaid since 2006 have already been paid more than $2.3 million, including interest and super, with individual sums ranging from $60 to almost $225,000.
"This matter serves as a warning to all organisations that they must prioritise workplace compliance," Ombudsman Sandra Parker said.
But she added Sunwater had shown a "strong commitment" to addressing the underpayments with measures to protect its workforce.
"This includes engaging an expert auditing firm to conduct an independent assessment of the outcomes of its rectification program and to audit its compliance over the next two years," Ms Parker said.
Under the enforceable undertaking signed by the organisation, Sunwater will be required to pay outstanding amounts to former workers by October 31.
A "contrition" payment of 4.5 per cent of the total underpayment figure, estimated to be more than $100,000, will be made to the Commonwealth's Consolidated Revenue Fund.
An independent organisation will also be required to be funded by Sunwater to run a "hotline" for the next 12 months for staff to make inquiries about their related employment concerns.
The organisation will also display notices detailing the workplace law breaches and issue apologies to Professionals Australia and the Australian Services Union.
In April, Queensland's other state-owned water supplier, Seqwater, was revealed to have also potentially underpaid hundreds of its staff.
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