Woolworths sued by union, former employees over alleged roster changes, pay cuts

The Retail and Fast Food Workers Union (RAFFWU) has launched legal action against Woolworths on behalf of 1400 workers for allegedly changing rosters without proper consultation and threatening not to pay workers who didn’t comply, resulting in wage cuts in the midst of the pandemic.

Over a thousand overnight workers across more than 100 Woolworths stores in Victoria and Tasmania were told in April 2021 that the supermarket was ceasing overnight grocery fill work and changing the shift hours to 7pm-11pm, leading to the loss of penalty rates and lower pay.

The retail union and two former Woolworths workers are taking legal action.Credit: Oscar Colman

The union alleges that these workers were not properly consulted about the change and were told they would be sent home and not be paid if they didn’t agree to the new rosters, which the union argues amounts to unlawful coercion.

“There was no warning,” said RAFFWU secretary Josh Cullinan in a statement.

“The reward for a year of working in the pandemic was for these workers to have massive cuts in their pay and for their overnight work to be switched to day or evening work.”

RAFFWU secretary Josh Cullinan.Credit: Cameron Atfield

The union alleges that Woolworths’ reason for ceasing overnight shifts was so it would not have to pay workers penalty rates or paid meal breaks, and that some full-time workers lost as much as $30,000 a year from the changes.

“We are seeking proper compensation for all affected workers, including the tens of thousands of dollars a year some workers have lost as a result of the changes,” Cullinan said.

The Federal Court action is being brought by the union as well as two former Woolworths workers, Peter Lawson and Lauren Dyer, who worked in Victoria’s Thrift Park store and Lilydale store respectively.

The union alleges that Woolworths did not permit Lawson, who flagged disagreements with the new roster, to have a representative from the union. Woolworths allegedly told Lawson that he was entitled to a support person, and that the supermarket would not recognise a RAFFWU representative.

Lawson allegedly flagged issues with the new roster around June 18, and on July 4, Woolworths proposed some revisions. However, before the dispute had been resolved, the parties allege Woolworths implemented the revised roster on July 19.

A similar situation occurred with Dyer, who says she flagged her disagreement with the new roster on May 27 that year and then again more formally on June 16. On July 19, before the dispute had been resolved, Woolworths allegedly implemented the change.

In a statement, a Woolworths spokesperson said the supermarket changed the way it replenished Victorian and Tasmanian stores in July 2021 to stock shelves in the afternoons and evenings instead of overnight, bring it in line with the rest of the country.

“The move was designed to improve stock availability, particularly during evening trading hours, when a growing number of customers choose to shop,” the spokesperson said.

“We knew that this was a change to their rosters and that’s why there was an extensive consultation period commencing in April 2021 prior to the change, to ensure the transition to new rosters was as smooth as possible.”

Woolworths said it had paid transition payments for impacted staff for eight weeks, while employees who had worked there longer received an additional two weeks of payments.

“As this matter is now before the Court, it would not be appropriate to comment further.”

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