‘Get out while you can’: Bombshell email as more than 50% of staff quit at Australian company

There’s a dark secret at the heart of a Sydney company and staff have had enough, with workers quitting in droves.

EXCLUSIVE

Several workers at an Australian technology firm claim it’s “well-known” among them that if they resign, they might be “stiffed” by not receiving their final wages, leave entitlements or superannuation.

Last week, a senior employee sensationally quit by sending out a company-wide email encouraging everyone to take as much holiday time as possible so they wouldn’t be left out of pocket.

D365 Group, a Microsoft Gold Partner tech business that builds software for health, real estate and accounting services with offices in Sydney and Melbourne, is under fire from several former staff members for refusing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars owed to them.

News.com.au has spoken to seven ex-employees who claim they are owed money ranging from $7000 to $45,000 for superannuation that was never deposited into their accounts, unpaid accrued leave and final wages for the last weeks they worked.

It’s understood the company has less than 30 full-time and part-time staff but in the past year, at least 18 employees have quit, with one staff member calling the exodus a “nearly 100 per cent turnover”.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and the Fair Work Ombudsman are currently investigating D365 Group. Both government organisations have directed D365 Group to pay their workers correctly but so far their correspondence has been ignored.

James Turnbull, in his 50s, worked at D365 Group for 18 months and was eventually promoted to Chief Technology Officer but quit in December last year because he “could see the wheels were falling off” the company.

Now, eight months later, the ex-CTO claims he is owed around $20,000 from months of unpaid super, one week of wages and 240 hours of accrued leave.

“Whenever somebody left, they would get stiffed, they wouldn’t get their final several weeks’ pay,” he told news.com.au of his observations of several staff members.

“The trick which was well known in the organisation was to leave right after a payday to minimise the amount you could get stiffed, which is ridiculous. I left right after a payday.”

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James Turnbull says he has been “stiffed” by his former workplace.

Mr Turnbull worked as the company’s Chief Technology Officer.

Mr Turnbull was relying on his final wages and entitlements and not receiving them has “certainly caused some financial stress for me and my family”.

He claims he and others had acquired significant amounts of annual leave because Covid-19 lockdowns made it difficult to go on holidays, having only used up 12 days during his stint at the company. He estimates he is owed around $13,000 to $20,000 in annual leave, a figure Fair Work has accepted.

He also claims he is owed around $7,700 in unpaid superannuation.

According to him, D365 Group frequently paid his superannuation late and he had to nag the company about it a number of times.

“I had to chase half a dozen times to pay super that was five and six months overdue. Because I did chase I was only three months out,” he said.

By law, employers must pay superannuation for all adult employees if they earn more than $450 per month. Failure to pay superannuation can mean a fine of up to $10,500 or 12 months’ imprisonment, according to Industry Super.

Mr Turnbull has reported D365 Group to the ATO and Fair Work, who are now working to recover his funds.

News.com.au has called, texted, left voicemails and emails for D365 Group but by time of publication, the company had given no official comment.

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A letter sent to Mr Turnbull from Fair Work.

By October last year, Mr Turnbull started to grow concerned that D365 Group was in trouble as he witnessed projects languish, a huge staff turnover rate and senior employees being replaced with overseas interns to save money.

Last month, a contractor, Adrian Wake of 28Connect, took D365 Group to court demanding the company be “wound up in insolvency” for failing to pay $85,000 he claimed was owed to him.

D365 Group challenged his claim, writing in court documents: “There is a genuine dispute regarding the debt, as the plaintiff did not provide the services as claimed.”

At least three contractors news.com.au knows of, including Mr Wake, believe they are owed thousands from the firm.

As the main breadwinner for his family, Mr Turnbull planned to leave D365 Group once he had another job set up but by December, he felt it was untenable to stay.

“I was trying to line up another job but things got that toxic that I had to leave without one lined up,” he said.

Mr Turnbull said projects also stalled which has impacted his relationship with clients.

“I brought in $260,000 worth of business from contacts that I had,” he said. “That has tarnished my reputation and brand, I had genuine confidence that we could deliver things, my colleagues and I were left holding the baby.”

Mr Turnbull claims his carer’s leave, which he used up on his mum recovering from cancer, was converted into annual leave to save the company money.

He also noticed that 38 hours of domestic violence leave appeared on his pay slips when he had never applied for it. This type of leave is unpaid, causing him to suspect it is another money saving strategy from D365 Group.

David* claims he is owed $45,000 from D365 Group, which is the most out of all the employees news.com.au spoke to.

“My final wages, annual leave and super adds up to add about $45,000,” he told news.com.au.

“It’s really frustrating. It has taken its toll on me.”

Documents sighted by news.com.au show he is owed 2.5 weeks of unpaid wages, 4.5 weeks of annual leave and around $12,000 in superannuation.

The former staffer worked in a senior position for nearly two years but resigned in November after he was refused time to go on holidays.

“They wouldn’t give me leave, I organised a holiday two days south of Sydney [but it was rejected], so I resigned, that was the push,” he recalled.

Out of his colleagues during his two years at D365 Group, David only knows one person who still works there.

It’s a “nearly 100 per cent turnover,” he added.

The IT worker believes the company has been in trouble for a while.

“We were burning through Covid, [the company] just employed interns and non-technical people to save money, it meant we lost a lot of time,” he said.

“I started to see cracks.

“It’s just unfortunate that some of the clients we work with had great faith.”

‘Get out while you can’

This bombshell email appeared in staff inboxes on Friday afternoon.

The email also pointed out the company was involved in winding up proceedings.

Last Friday, a senior executive at D365 group sent a company-wide email to staff warning them to “get out while they can”.

“Hi Everyone,” the email, leaked to news.com.au, begins.

“Please check to make sure that you are:

“1. Getting paid super,

“2. End of year tax has been paid and you can do your tax returns

“3. Use all of your holidays ASAP...

“Get out while you can.”

The email also pointed out the company was involved in winding up proceedings.

News.com.au contacted the employee who sent the email but they were hesitant to talk.

The ATO concluded “in favour” of this employee’s claims about how much superannuation they were owed from D365 Group.

Another employee’s correspondence from Fair Work.

Correspondence shared with news.com.au shows that the ATO and Fair Work are investigating the company.

In a statement to news.com.au, a Fair Work Ombudsman spokesperson said it “is conducting an investigation in relation to D. 365 Group Pty Ltd and is unable to comment further at this time”.

Correspondence sent to ex employees and shared with news.com.au shows that Fair Work “gathered information from a range of places” and concluded that D365 Group may have contravened two laws: clause 4.3 of the National Minimum Wage Order by not paying staff for time worked and s90(2) of the Fair Work Act by failing to pay staff for untaken annual leave on termination.

They have issued several compliance notices but “to date, the Employer [D365 Group] has not complied with the Compliance Notice and therefore the matter remains active”.

Meanwhile, the ATO said it could not comment because of confidentiality obligations but in documents sent to former staff, confirmed an investigation was underway.

“Our investigation into your super query has found D365. GROUP PTY LTD owes you outstanding superannuation guarantee amounts,” they wrote in a letter.

“We have not had any engagement from the Employer at all either in general or in response to our correspondence.

“Our next step is to collect these amounts on your behalf.”

Fears D365 Group on brink of collapse, under fire from former workers owed thousands

Clients and contractors speak out

Clients and contractors of D365 Group have also spoken after claiming they are owed considerable amounts of money.

Yaqub Ahmad, 41, is a Pakistan-based contractor who claims he is owed $13,000 after D365 Group refused to pay him for the work he had done.

Mr Ahmad runs a small tech business called Sky World Connections which D365 Group started outsourcing work to in November 2020.

He says the Australian company now owes him US$9210, or AUD$13,000 from unpaid work.

“It is very hard since I have five kids,” he told news.com.au.

“Four of them are school going and also I have a small company to run and to pay my employees.”

Until August last year the small business owner was receiving regular payments from D365 Group but then he was accused of spending too much time on a project so he could overcharge the company.

After discussions, the money was eventually paid.

They continued working with them but when they sent through their next invoice, they were told their work was substandard and that they were not entitled to a payment.

“They refused to pay,” he said.

Mr Ahmad had never been told his company’s work was substandard before and believes it was a ploy to get out of paying him.

He contacted the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman and also the Fair Work Ombudsman but it appears he will have to launch his own expensive legal petition to recoup the money.

Yaqub Ahmad claims he is owed $13,000 from D365 Group.

The last invoice Mr Ahmad sent that he says has not been paid.

A National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provider who preferred to remain anonymous told news.com.au they hired D365 Group to create online systems that would organise their customer’s information.

“We did credit references on D365 Group, they came back positive,” the NDIS provider spokesperson told news.com.au.

“But subsequent to that, both of those referees have come back to me and apologised.”

They worked with the technology company over an 18 month period but when they were given the final product, they claim it didn’t work.

“We spent $200,000. We have a finance system that is the lowest possible functioning level and a CRM [a customer relationship management system] that we don’t use.

“We’re managing in Excel what we should have been doing on a system.”

For an idea of how much it has cost the company, the employee said: “Our budgeted profit for this financial year was $241,000.”

When they reached out to D365 Group for support, their emails did not receive a response.

Finally, they decided they wanted to cut ties with the IT firm to have their services transferred over to another Microsoft Gold Partner.

They had to copy in D365 Group’s financial backer for this to be actioned.

Another employee’s annual leave that has not been paid out.

News.com.au has spoken to several more employees who are outraged that they still haven’t received their wages and entitlements months down the track.

Trevin* claims he is owed around $32,000 – $20,000 in wages and $12,000 in super – after working at the company from 2019 to November last year.

Philip* claims he is owed around $17,000 after making multiple phone calls and emails requesting for his final pay and entitlements, which he claims went unanswered.

“It was a nightmare, I don’t want to remember the memory,” he told news.com.au.

“They owe me more than 100 hours of leave.”

Gillian*, 45, has been struggling financially because she is yet to receive a cent of the $7000 she claims is owed to her.

“I had to cancel my kids’ holidays,” she told news.com.au. “Not getting the salary and leave, it’s really affected my family’s situation.”

From eastern Europe, Gillian is shocked that this kind of thing could happen in Australia.

“I came to Australia from a third world country,” she said. “I wanted to live in a country where law is the king. But it’s 2022 [and I’m] an Australian citizen who cannot get her wages.”

She added: “It would be great to stop them, something like this should not happen, it’s not right.”

D365 Group has left behind a trail of unhappy workers, contractors and clients.

Sam* started out as an intern in 2018 and quit in December last year.

He claims he is waiting on a $33,000 payout from the company from unpaid super, wages and leave.

From southeast Asia, Sam admitted he “didn’t understand how super worked”.

But when he quit: “I tried to check my super, I saw I only got paid two or three times during my three years there”.

Elizabeth* was new to the tech industry when she was hired by D365 Group and claims she is owed about $7000 from her eight months there.

“They hire inexperienced people and then they put them in front of the client and sell them as a senior,” she told news.com.au.

“Now that I’m in a different company, I’ve talked to executive levels [and] everyone was surprised, the last thing you do is put them [inexperienced people] in front of the client.”

Staff are also calling into question D356 Group’s status as a Microsoft Gold Partner, which is effectively a licence for them in the tech industry, after all the controversies in the company.

David* said: “I raised a complaint with Microsoft head office in November, after I left.

“They showed just absolute, no care and no responsibility for us.”

In a statement, a Microsoft spokesperson said: “We can confirm that we have taken the necessary steps in regards to the issues raised regarding D365 Group, based on the terms of D365’s agreements with us.”

When news.com.au asked for them to clarify what that meant and if D365 Group had been dropped as a partner, they did not respond.

Not the first time

It’s not the first time D365 Group has been accused of underpaying its staff.

An employee took D365 Group to the Federal Circuit Court in July last year over unpaid wages.

The matter was eventually dismissed as the worker reached an agreement with D365 Group through mediation sessions.

In 2019, the tech company was taken to court twice and lost both times.

In that year, the Federal Circuit Court ordered the company to pay a former employee $9,604.11 in unpaid wages and entitlements.

Another staffer was awarded $8,795.31 by the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission.

*Last names withheld over privacy concerns

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Originally published as ‘Get out while you can’: Bombshell email as more than 50% of staff quit at Australian company