Keolis Downer Northern Beaches chases staff for debts after ‘mistakenly’ overpaying wages

The private operator of northern Sydney’s public bus network is going after its own staff over a major payroll blunder that left some drivers overpaid thousands of dollars in wages.

Bus drivers have been sent letters with warnings to repay thousands of dollars in wage debts.

The private operator of northern Sydney’s public bus network is going after its own staff over a major payroll blunder that left some drivers overpaid thousands of dollars in wages.

Keolis Downer Northern Beaches has sent debt notices to employees following an external KPMG audit that identified inaccuracies in the payment of wages and entitlements to employees over six months from 2021 to 2022.

In one debt notice sent to a driver, seen by this publication, the employee was asked to pay back almost $6000 within a strict deadline of 11 days.

The letter stated the employee “mistakenly received’’ wages exceeding their entitlements and warned the matter could be referred to an external debt collection agency if the money was not repaid.

The NSW Rail Bus Transport Union has claimed $2.8m in wage errors were paid to employees and that about 80 per cent of workers employed by the company have been affected.

Keolis Downer Northern Beaches operates public buses on the lower north shore and northern beaches.

Of the $2.8m, the union claims overpayments accounted for $2m and about $800,000 related to underpayment of wages.

The union claims some employees have been asked to pay back as much as $13,000 while another former driver, who now lives in a nursing home, is also being chased for debts.

A bus driver employed for the company told this publication the impact of the debt notices has impacted morale across the workforce.

Employees say the wage issues have impacted staff morale.

“There’s a shortage of drivers at the moment and we’re now being chased for debts going back more than two years,’’ he said. “The drivers are fuming.’’

RTBU secretary David Babineau described the wage issues as a “mess of biblical proportions”.

Mr Babineau said drivers were now wary about performing overtime because many had received debt collection notices

He said “almost all drivers have been affected at some point” and the wage errors were putting further strain on a system which “relies on the goodwill of staff to do overtime to keep the service running”.

In a statement, a Keolis Downer Northern Beaches spokeswoman said errors were identified in the payroll system between October 31, 2021, and August 6, 2022.

The spokeswoman did not respond to questions about how much in total was incorrectly paid.

“Our immediate priority was ensuring any staff member impacted by an underpayment was paid correctly,” the spokeswoman said.

“We continue working closely with our staff that have been affected by the recovery of overpayments to minimise the impact and ensure they are supported.

“We apologise to affected employees and confirm our payroll system was adjusted to address the issues identified.”

A Transport for NSW spokeswoman said the department was “aware of the payroll errors” and was working with Keolis Downer Northern Beaches to resolve the issues identified in the independent audit.

The wage issues come after Keolis Downer Northern Beaches was awarded an eight-year contract to operate the bus network in 2021 after the state government privatised the network.

The Keolis Downer letter to staff stated the company was working with employees “affected by the audit results” and had offered to develop payment plans to “minimise the impact”.