Woolworths (South Africa) has completed a payment review and has revealed underpayments totalling $3.7 million across the David Jones and Country Road Group businesses.
Affecting 7,300 staff members across both businesses, the total underpayment identified within David Jones totalled $1.35 million, while the underpayment at Country Road Group was $2.36 million.
The majority of underpayments in David Jones were related to superannuation entitlements while at Country Road Group, the majority of underpayments affected those working in the Politix business.
Both business' payment errors occurred over a six year period and were identified due to system changes in 2019.
David Jones interim CEO Ian Moir said that the business was deeply sorry for the error and is working to rectify the issue.
"Our team members should expect to be paid correctly.
"We deeply regret this has not occurred and apologise unreservedly to our team.
"We are now focused on ensuring our team members are paid the money owing to them as quickly as possible," he said.
Country Road Group CEO Scott Fyfe added that the errors in Country Road Group have been fixed to ensure that it can't happen again.
"We sincerely apologise to all team members impacted by this issue, and are working hard to resolve the matter immediately.
"The cause of underpayment across the CRG brands was identified as poor systems integration, with the material impact coming from the acquisition of Politix in 2016.
"We’ve now completed a thorough review of systems and processes and taken the necessary steps across the Group to ensure these errors cannot be repeated," he said.
Throughout 2019, the retail industry was plagued by underpayment scandals, with fashion brands including Michael Hill, M. J. Bale, Super Retail Group, Big W's parent company Woolworths, Wesfarmers and Sunglass Hut caught up in the mess.
Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker said that despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, businesses still need to ensure that they are paying their staff correctly and reviewing their practices.
"Due to the impact of COVID-19 on Australian workplaces, the number of employers and employees seeking our assistance has grown significantly.
"In response, we have adjusted our services and prioritised allegations of serious non-compliance with workplace laws, including in relation to the JobKeeper scheme.
"More than 60 businesses have come forward to self-disclose workplace law breaches with a total of half a billion dollars owed to workers – and that’s just what we know about.
"Earlier this year I wrote to the CEOs and Boards of the top listed companies across Australia, calling for immediate action to assure themselves, their shareholders, workers and the community that their companies are meeting lawful obligations under the Fair Work Act.
“Large organisations need to place a much higher priority on rigorously reviewing workplace relations systems to ensure that paying workers what they are entitled to becomes the norm," she said.
Woolworths (South Africa) will make full back-payments plus interest to all team members by mid-October.