Monash IVF error sees staff underpaid for seven years

Embattled Monash IVF has admitted to underpaying hundreds of staff over the last seven years, with the fertility giant blaming an “unintentional miscalculation” for its latest stuff-up.

Embattled Monash IVF has confirmed it underpaid 347 current and former staff over the last seven years.

In the latest bungle for the multimillion-dollar fertility giant, when questioned by the Herald Sun it said it discovered an “unintentional miscalculation” in overtime and meal allowances for some of its health professionals.

A Monash IVF spokesman said the underpayments were found through its internal audit process for its payroll system and once identified, it had moved to resolve it.

“We have contacted the impacted current and former employees, and all have been repaid or are in the process of being repaid, including receiving an additional goodwill payment,” the spokesman said.

Monash IVF has confirmed it unintentionally underpaid some health professionals overtime and meal allowances.

“The unintentional miscalculation of these allowances resulted in underpayments to current and former employees between 2018 and 2025, averaging $40 for each impacted employee each year.

“We know how important it is for the pay and entitlements of all of our employees to be correct and we sincerely apologise for what has occurred.”

The mistake follows shocking revelations in April that a woman had unwittingly given birth to a stranger’s baby after a horror mix-up by Monash IVF at a Brisbane clinic that saw her implanted with another couple’s embryo.

Melbourne-based Monash IVF only confirmed the heartbreaking case after the Herald Sun uncovered the bungle and put questions to the business.

The company’s share price has dropped from $1.08 to $0.76, but it denies this is connected to the embryo mix-up, more a reflection of weaker volumes across the industry.

Monash IVF described the April embryo mix-up as an isolated incident and the result of “human error” and that it had commissioned an independent inquiry by Victorian Senior Counsel Fiona McLeod.

Monash IVF says updates on its independent review into the embryo mix up at the Brisbane clinic will be provided to key stakeholders.

It has now been more than 100 days since the investigation was launched, and when asked for an update Monash IVF said only that it was “well-progressed”.

The company refused to say when it would be complete or if the results would be made public. It did offer an update would be provided to “key stakeholders” and reiterated Monash IVF was committed to implementing all of its recommendations.

The Herald Sun can now reveal that Queensland Health has no legal right to see the internal review and will need to rely on Monash IVF to voluntarily share the results.

A Queensland Health spokesman told this publication it cannot impose any operational requirements on Monash IVF given the incident occurred prior to the commencement of the Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Act.

“We are working closely with Monash IVF to observe processes and procedures at its Queensland clinics to prevent, identify and mitigate potential risks,” the spokesman said.

Last year Monash IVF agreed to pay $56m to hundreds of heartbroken families whose healthy embryos may have been destroyed during bungled genetic screening tests.

The class action, the largest against an IVF provider, involved more than 700 patients. The settlement was to be paid out in four sums, with the final $21m to be paid by July, according to the proposed settlement approved by the Supreme Court.

The multimillion-dollar payout was inclusive of costs and Monash IVF has made no admission of liability as part of the settlement.