The Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) has announced that Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has rectified payroll discrepancies, compensating over 19,000 employees (about the seating capacity of Madison Square Garden) with $21 million in owed wages under federal workplace regulations. Additionally, $16 million was disbursed for long service leave entitlements.
According to an FWO press release, deficiencies in IAG’s processes, notably the absence of time and attendance systems, led to the underpayments. The conglomerate, encompassing brands such as NRMA Insurance, RACV, CGU, SGIO, Swann Insurance, WFI, and ROLLiN, voluntarily disclosed these compliance lapses to the regulator in December 2020.
The impacted employees spanned across all states and territories, with most individuals receiving approximately $1,000. However, 14 workers were reimbursed amounts exceeding $200,000.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth commended IAG’s proactive response, noting the company’s substantial commitment to rectifying the issue and ensuring future compliance. Booth emphasized that IAG’s dedication marked one of the most significant commitments to Board oversight in any agreement with the FWO.
IAG has formalized its commitment through an Enforceable Undertaking (EU) with the Fair Work Ombudsman, as stated in the Ombudsman’s release. The payroll inaccuracies resulted in employees being deprived of their fundamental legal entitlements for an extended period.
Affected employees were deprived of various entitlements, including overtime, weekend, public holiday, and shiftwork pay, in addition to minimum wages, leave, and other allowances.
In its official statement, IAG acknowledged the EU agreement and outlined corrective measures to prevent recurrence. The company attributed the root cause of the issues to its manual payroll system, which necessitated employees to submit entitlement claims manually.
IAG prioritized expeditious remediation for impacted employees, ensuring prompt disbursement of payments, including interest, to both current and former staff between 2022 and 2023.
Expressing regret for the errors, IAG extended apologies to all current and former employees affected by the payroll discrepancies.
