Wrongly classifying staff as “award free” has resulted in Crown being ordered by the Commonwealth to pay $350,000 in fines.
The error resulted in the casino and resorts giant underpaying 200 chefs, concierges, receptionists, administrative assistants, hairdressers, beauty and massage therapists in line with minimum award rates, overtime, leave and penalty rates.
Underpayments totalled $1.2 million over six years.
The bill includes $1.03 million in wages, $107,212 in superannuation and an extra 10 per cent for interest and gratuity.
“Crown’s failures to apply relevant awards to some of its employees and to ensure annual salaries met all minimum entitlements for hours worked led to long-running underpayments of its staff, and a larger remediation bill.” said Fair Work Ombudsman Sandra Parker.
“All employers need to invest the time and resources to ensure they are meeting all lawful entitlements.”
It was found Crown failed to apply four separate awards and paid staff salaries that were too low to cover the award. Timesheets were also missed.
In lieu of its failings, it paid back $567,000 to 102 workers in Melbourne and $659,000 to 90 workers in Perth. Eight former employees are still to be paid.
Crown will now introduce an internal reconciliation process to ensure staff are correctly paid. It will undergo two external audits to check workplace compliance in 2024 and 2025.
