2 April 2026

Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT) will rectify more than $11.7 million in underpayments, including interest and superannuation, to 5,500 staff as part of an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

The not-for-profit aged care, home care and retirement living provider has rectified the large majority of the underpayments, to all employees it can find. It provides services across 27 retirement communities and 27 residential care homes in NSW (Sydney, the Central Coast, Far North Coast, Riverina, and South West Slopes) and the ACT.

Affected workers included home care employees, assistants in nursing, registered and enrolled nurses, facility managers, diversional therapists, cooks and handypersons. Staff employed on a casual, full-time and part-time basis were affected.

Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT) reported that its underpayments were caused by issues with its time and attendance system and a manual payroll process inconsistent with enterprise agreement requirements. A further review it commissioned found provisions relating to overtime, allowances and shift penalties in an enterprise agreement had been applied incorrectly.

Employees were underpaid their overtime, weekend penalties, shift loadings and annual leave loading, as well as other entitlements owed under the enterprise agreements such as various types of allowances.

The organisation identified the underpayments following a self-audit initiated in 2023 after an employee asked about overtime payments. It self-reported its non-compliance to the Fair Work Ombudsman in November 2023.

The underpayments identified are for the period July 2017 to October 2024. The organisation has so far back-paid 3,603 employees $10,135,122 including interest and superannuation.

Outstanding wages owed will be paid into the Commonwealth Consolidated Revenue Fund if the employer can’t find the rest of the employees within 60 days.

Back-payments to underpaid individual employees range from less than a dollar to $44,593, including superannuation and interest. The average back-payment was $1,716.

Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said an EU was appropriate as the not-for-profit employer had cooperated with the FWO’s investigation and showed commitment to rectifying underpayments found and preventing them in the future.

“Under the Enforceable Undertaking, Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT) has committed to replacing its time and attendance system, as well as commissioning an independent audit, at its own cost, to check its compliance with workplace laws,” Ms Booth said.

“We welcome Southern Cross Care’s acknowledging of its breaches and the underlying issues, and the measures taken to rectify them and ensure future compliance for their workers.”

Ms Booth said the matter showed employers must check their systems are fit-for-purpose and meeting obligations to pay employees all their correct pay and entitlements.

“The matter serves as a warning of the significant long-running problems that can result from an employer failing to have appropriate checks and balances to ensure workplace compliance. We expect employers to meet their legal obligations under their own enterprise agreements,” she said.

“Worker entitlements such as overtime and weekend penalties are important and can soon create a large underpayment bill if they’re not correctly paid when they should be.”

The terms of the EU require Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT) to notify former and current employees about the underpayments and inform the FWO when its new time and attendance system has been implemented.

The organisation must also provide training for all employees on the proper use of the new time and attendance system, and regularly report to its Board about compliance.

The EU commits Southern Cross Care (NSW & ACT) to establishing several means for employees to voice their views and experiences, including surveys, an anonymous feedback form, monthly team meetings and an external hotline for whistleblower complaints.

Employers and employees can call the Fair Work Infoline on 13 13 94 or visit www.fairwork.gov.au for free advice and assistance. An interpreter service is available on 13 14 50. Workers can also seek information from their employer, or their union if they are a member.

Employers can seek information from their employer association if they are a member.

Employers can seek guidance on how to fix underpayments, including access to tools and resources such as the Payroll Remediation Program Guide, on the FWO’s website.