Working for free, no lunch breaks: Lovisa hit with class action lawsuit

Lovisa has been accused of forcing hundreds of young women to work for free before and after their rostered hours and during lunch breaks in a class action lawsuit that more than 300 people have signed up for.

The Australian jewellery retailer, which has nearly 200 stores nationwide and about 600 more internationally, was served legal documentation by employment class action law firm Adero Law last week that named three former Lovisa employees – Olivia Iob, Ayesha Kelso and Finn Wesley (also known as Vivian Wesley) – as applicants.

Other alleged breaches of workers’ rights included paying them the wrong base rate and failing to provide rosters on time, according to documents.

A Lovisa store in New Zealand.Credit: Mark Coote/Bloomberg

More than 300 former staff members who worked for Lovisa between 2018 and 2024 are alleging the youth accessories chain asked them to arrive at the store and perform duties 15 to 20 minutes before their rostered shifts and to stay back up to half an hour after their shifts ended to clean up and balance the till. They were not paid overtime, they claim.

Staff were also allegedly asked to attend training, but were expected to do so in their own personal time. Proper rest breaks weren’t granted, with staff – some of whom were rostered in stores on their own – expected to be “on call” and continue working throughout their lunch breaks to deliver “exceptional customer experience”.

According to court documents, the company occasionally required Iob, Kelso and some other workers to travel to other stores more than 50 kilometres away without compensating them the 82¢ per kilometre travelled they were entitled to.

Iob was allegedly paid the wrong base rate of $21.65 an hour instead of the correct $24.25 an hour between mid-January and early February 2020. Other allegations include staff being asked by regional managers to purchase and during their shifts wear a headband, earrings, necklace and bracelet sold by Lovisa, dubbed a “Lovisa High-5”, without reimbursing them.

The jewellery chain also allegedly enforced a strict policy on footwear; court documents detail that Wesley was told by her regional manager she could not wear laces, zippers, sneakers, boots or sports shoes during her shift, but had to wear “women’s shoes” instead.

“[Regional manager] Ms Saracho told Ms Wesley that the sneakers were not compliant with [Lovisa’s] policies and that she will be given 15 minutes to leave the store and purchase women’s shoes in place of the sneakers that she wore,” stated Adero Law’s statement of claim.

Employees who were rostered alone weren’t allowed to leave the store to use the bathroom, which has led to illness, infection and psychological distress, and were asked to do ear piercings in the store after just two hours of training, the lawsuit claims.

Adero Law managing principal Rory Markham said the law firm had been investigating Lovisa after some former employees, many of whom young women, high school and university students, complained about what they said were appalling and hostile working conditions.

The class action is only eligible to Australians, but Adero Law said it has received interest from several individuals from abroad attempting to join from a number of Lovisa stores offshore.

“The decision made by Lovisa to exploit their young workforce, many of whom are entering the workforce for the first time, falls far below the standard expected from an international company that prides itself on having a team culture that prioritises respect and dignity,” Markham said in a statement.

“One former employee has told Adero Law of their view that ‘the whole business is built on exploiting young people’.”

Adero Law attempted to obtain Iob, Kelso and Wesley’s rosters from Lovisa but were denied.

The $3.2 billion ASX-listed retailer acknowledged the class action in a statement on Thursday and said it intended to defend the proceedings.

Retail businessman Brett Blundy.Credit: Nic Walker

“The company takes its obligations under the Fair Work Act and the Lovisa Enterprise Agreements of 2014 and 2022 very seriously, including obligations to pay overtime, and has processes in place to monitor compliance with employment laws,” Lovisa said in the statement.

“Lovisa intends to defend the class action proceedings and will provide further updates to the market as and when appropriate.”

Lovisa is chaired by retail veteran Brett Blundy, who co-founded the fast-fashion jewellery chain in 2010. Blundy also started CD chain Sanity and underwear chains Bras N Things and Honey Birdette, both of which he sold for $500 million and $443 million respectively, and holds an 11 per cent stake in City Chic Collective. He is reportedly working on a new lingerie and sleepwear brand.

The long-time retail executive has appointed sacked Smiggle boss John Cheston to lead Lovisa as its next chief executive. Cheston has left Smiggle’s parent company Premier Investments, owned by rival retailer Solomon Lew, in acrimonious circumstances: he had been serving out his year-long notice period when Premier Investments suddenly terminated him with immediate effect for engaging in “serious misconduct and a serious breach of his employment terms”.

Cheston has denied Premier’s allegations through his lawyer. He is expected to start at Lovisa on June 4.

Lovisa’s shares closed 1.1 per cent lower after Thursday’s session.

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