The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched Federal Court action against childcare giant G8 Education, alleging more than 1400 workers were underpaid by a combined $2 million and seeking penalties, compensation and orders for outstanding entitlements to be repaid.
In a statement released today, the regulator alleges G8 underpaid minimum wages, overtime, trainee entitlements and first aid allowances to some employees between June 2020 and July 2022. It also claims hundreds of employees were left worse off under Individual Flexibility Arrangements that extended ordinary working hours without sufficient compensation.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said it was “completely unacceptable” for a large employer to allegedly underpay childcare workers’ basic legal entitlements.
G8 Education, one of Australia’s largest for-profit childcare providers, said in a statement it had self-reported the issues to the regulator in December 2020 after identifying “inadvertent non-compliance” during an internal review.
The company said it had since paid about $41 million in remediation, including superannuation and interest, and would compensate employees for any further identified underpayments.
G8 said it had strengthened payroll controls, continued to co-operate with the Fair Work Ombudsman and apologised “unreservedly” to affected employees. A court date has not yet been set.
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