Fair Work Ombudsman probes 20 aged-care providers
The regulator recovered $40.5m for 22,000 underpaid aged-care workers last financial year.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating 20 aged-care providers in five states to ensure staff are receiving the right pay and entitlements, after recovering $40.5m for 22,000 underpaid workers last financial year.
Organisations were selected for inspection after considering anonymous reports from staff members; any history of non-compliance with the Fair Work Act; and the provider’s employment of visa-holders.
Common issues for the aged-care workers requesting assistance from the FWO included the underpayment of base rates of pay, non-payment for overtime and penalty rates, non-payment of allowances, and non-payment of final entitlements upon leaving employment.
The 20 organisations are based in Victoria, NSW, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia and are a mix of residential aged-care providers, homecare organisations, and digital platforms that provide homecare workers.
The regulator investigated 27 aged-care sites focusing on pay and entitlements for personal care workers, nurses, and nursing assistants.
Fair Work Ombudsman Anna Booth said improving compliance in the aged-care sector was one of the regulator’s priorities. “The aged-care sector employs a high number of vulnerable workers, particularly migrant workers who are at risk of exploitation, and these inspections are making sure their workplace rights are being met,” Ms Booth said.
The FWO recovered more than $40.5m for over 22,000 underpaid aged-care workers in residential aged care last financial year. Over that period, 12 per cent of anonymous reports to the federal regulator were from workers providing healthcare and social assistance.
“Hardworking aged-care workers must be paid all that they are owed under their awards, agreements and the Fair Work Act’s National Employment Standards,” Ms Booth said.
“If we find breaches, our first aim is to ensure workers are fully and promptly back-paid. If we find employers with significant compliance issues, we’ll consider our enforcement tools as appropriate. We want employers to get it right in the first place. The FWO supports employers and employees to identify correct pay and entitlements.”
The FWO recovered $473m for nearly 160,000 underpaid workers in 2023-24, taking back-payments to workers to $1.5bn across three years.
It is the third highest annual recovery figure recorded.
More than half came from large corporate sector employers, who together back-paid more than $333m to nearly 110,000 underpaid employees.
The FWO also secured the largest penalties in its 15-year history, with the regulator’s litigations leading to $21.2m in court-ordered penalties.
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