Thank you for the incredibly important work you do in supporting the children entrusted to our care to grow and blossom. We are committed to ensuring that our valued employees are paid appropriately and accurately for the work you do.
Recently, during a review of our payroll system, we became aware that overtime calculations for Long Day Care and Vacation Care employees for hours worked beyond eight hours of ordinary time, and some calculations for meetings or training outside of ordinary hours, were incorrect. This means that some of our employees may have been underpaid for their overtime hours over a period of some years. Since discovering the issue, we have immediately fixed the system error so that going forward, you will be paid correctly.
What are we doing to fix this problem?
We are taking this issue extremely seriously and have self-reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman. We have appointed an external expert, whose sole focus and responsibility will be to conduct a comprehensive investigation and let us know what steps we need to take to rectify this issue.
This process is likely to take some time – months, rather than weeks, and as we conduct this process carefully and thoroughly, we will keep you updated on our progress.
What if I have questions?
We have established several channels for you in the event that you have questions.
Please reach out for support
We recognise that this news is difficult to hear. We are committed to ensuring that our valued employees are correctly paid for the important work they do, and we will take all required steps to rectify this issue.
Please remember, the Employee Assistance Program can be contacted on 1800 81 87 28 for confidential counselling available to all staff at no cost.
We will continue to update you with our progress.
The employee wage underpayment was discovered following a system and process review conducted by incoming Director, Chris Lugg.
In broad terms, the Award says that after eight hours of work, an employee is entitled to overtime unless they have agreed to work up to ten hours. Catholic Early EdCare systems only calculated employees’ entitlement to overtime after ten hours of work. This is incorrect.
In addition, minimum shift lengths were not correctly applied in relation to meetings and training conducted outside of ordinary work hours, particular where it wasn’t a continuation of another shift.
The incorrect processes may have been in place since the Award commenced in 2010. Some employees may have been paid incorrectly for some hours of work since that time.
We are taking this issue extremely seriously and have self-reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
We have appointed an external expert, whose sole focus and responsibility will be to conduct a comprehensive investigation and let us know what steps we need to take to rectify this issue.
This process is likely to take some time – months, rather than weeks. As we conduct this process carefully and thoroughly, we will keep you updated on our progress.
Our appointed expert will advise us about the process that will be undertaken to identify where underpayments have been made. We will share information about how this will happen and when employees will be advised as soon as possible.
The external expert will also investigate payments to past employees. They will also advise about proactive communication to past employees.
Get in touch with the Archdiocesan People and Culture team by selecting “Employee wages enquiry” on the form on this page https://www.catholicearlyedcare.qld.edu.au/contact.
We are committed to ensuring that our valued employees are correctly paid for the important work they do and we will take all required steps to rectify this issue.
Please remember, the Employee Assistance Program can be contacted on 1800 81 87 28 for confidential counselling available to all employees at no cost.