Woolworths' underpayment scandal has blown out, with the company advising shareholders of missed estimates.
In a statement to the market today, Big W's parent company revealed the final figure was $15 million above initial estimates.
The original wage theft hit, thought to be around $300 million, is now $315 million as payroll investigations continue.
It comes as a number of retailers process similar underpayments, including Michael Hill, Sunglass Hut and MJ Bale.
The scandal has already impacted Woolworths' bottom line, with net profit down 7.7% at $887 million for the half year.
This included an $80 million provision for remediation costs.
Woolworths adjusted its financial statements for prior periods to reflect remediation outlay, including a $52 million drop in earnings for the prior financial year.
A total of $69 million in backpayments were made to staff in the first half.
Woolworths told shareholders the case is ongoing.
“The calculations of the salary payment shortfall involve a substantial volume of data, a high degree of complexity, interpretation, estimations, and are subject to further analysis of prior periods and the Fair Work Ombudsman’s ongoing investigation."