Insurance Australia Group back pays 19,000 Australians an average of $1000 as Fair Work slams corporate culture
After flagging its own mass underpayments to Fair Work, IAG took the strongest action the ombudsman has ever seen.
Thousands of Australians have received their share of a $21 million sum after they were underpaid by their employer Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) over a 10-year period.
More than a dozen people were also paid sums of $200,000, as a disappointed Fair Work Ombudsman warned the insurance giant, and all corporate boards: “do better.”
IAG, which is the nation’s largest general insurer, under brands NRMA, RACV, CGU, SGIO, Swann Insurance, WFI and ROLLiN.
It flagged mass underpayments with Fair Work following an internal review which found that the company lacked processes to ensure employees were being paid for their actual hours of work.
More than 19,000 current and former employees were paid an average back-payment of just over $1000 in unpaid wages and entitlements between 2013 and 2023.
Another $16.2 million was divided among workers who had missed out on long service leave entitlements.
IT workers, claims staff, and call centre staff were the most unpaid, but administration workers, customer service and sales staff, consultants, assessors, underwriters, analysts, and managers were also underpaid.
Fair Work Ombudsman spokesperson Anna Booth said it was “disappointing” to see such large, well-resourced corporate employers failing their legal duty to staff.
“Corporate compliance culture starts with the board, including how it sets its risk appetite, performance measures and reporting,” she said.
7 news
