Aussie charity The Smith Family pays back $5m in wages owed to hundreds of staff after Fair Work finds major breaches
A national charity that helps young people and their families overcome poverty-related education inequality has paid back $5 million to hundreds of workers it had underpaid for almost a decade.
The Smiths owed more than $5.9 million in lost wages to 784 current and former employees across the country who were underpaid for eight years.
A Fair Work Ombudsman investigation found the charity did not have adequate systems in place to enable its employees to understand what industrial rewards or agreements applied.
Many workers did not receive the minimum wages and benefits owed to them under the Enterprise Agreement and the Social, Community, Home Care and Disability Services Industry Award 2010.
The Ombudsman also found that some correct awards or contracts had been paid, but employees had received unlawfully low wages as a result of being classified at a level below their experience, qualifications or the tasks they performed.
There were also no regular reviews, resulting in underpayments that continued for several years.
The charity also breached workplace laws by failing to keep proper employment records for workers.
An internal review identified underpayments and the charity self-reported its non-compliance to the Fair Work Ombudsman in 2023.
The Smiths corrected the entire issue and refunded an average of $7,900 in back payments to current and former staff members they had underpaid between 2016 and 2024, ranging from $1 to $121,000.
The charity’s chief executive, Doug Taylor, told media on Thursday they were deeply disappointed by the missing payments.
“Once we identified the issues, we conducted a thorough review of our systems and processes and reported the matter to Fair Work ourselves,” he said.
“We have since completed a full remediation program to ensure all affected employees have the correct entitlements.”
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said the Enforceable Undertaking was appropriate because the Smiths had committed to co-operating with the investigation, correcting underpayments and improving compliance.
“We welcome the Smith Family’s commitment to ensuring compliance in the future, including commissioning an independent audit and creating an internal forum that will increase employees’ views on pay and conditions,” he said.
“This matter serves as a warning of the significant long-standing problems that can arise when an employer does not have adequate systems and checks and balances to ensure workers receive the full legal rights.
“Years of reviews and repayments will come with interest.
“All employers need to ensure they understand which Award or Agreement may apply to each employee and what the employee’s correct classification is under that document. The employee must then be paid all minimum wages and benefits applicable to that classification.”
