Crown Resorts Admits to Wages Error Worth 1.2 Million Australian Dollars

Posted on June 27, 2023 | 7:08 am
crown-resorts-to-backpay-staff-au$1-2m-after-wages-error

Crown Resorts, the largest owner and operator of land-based casinos in Australia, has admitted that it has made an error concerning some of its staff wages and will pay them back a total of 1.2 million Australian dollars.

Around 200 casino employees will receive a share of the 1.2 million Australian dollars, which means that on average an employee would get around 6,000 Australian dollars.

The wage errors happened over six years in which the company wrongly classified the respective employees as “award free”. Because of that the company failed to pay the 200 chefs, concierges, receptionists, administrative assistants, hairdressers, beauty and massage therapists in line with minimum award rates, overtime, leave and penalty rates. The errors happened at Crown Melbourne and Crown Perth, the casinos that the company operates in the respective Australian cities.

In addition to the 1.2 million Australian dollars, Crown Resorts will also have to pay 350,000 Australian dollars to the Commonwealth Consolidated Revenue Fund after having signed an agreement to that respect with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

When it first discovered the error, the company estimated that it would have to pay around 2.1 million Australian dollars in compensation to its employees, but eventually the bill was a lot lower than expected.

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Apologies and More Fines

Crown Resorts issued a statement in which it explained that the error was reported to the Fair Work Ombudsman by the company itself back in 2020 after a “comprehensive payroll review.”

“Crown takes its obligations as an employer seriously,” the company added, also underlining that it has apologized to the affected employees along with having paid back the amounts that were unlawfully withheld at first. 

This news comes just a few days after Crown Resorts was slapped with yet another fine, this time in Victoria, for having failed to pay the proper amounts of casino tax over a long period of time. The respective fine was worth 20 million Australian dollars, taking the company’s total fines in Victoria to a staggering 250 million Australian dollars. Moreover, the company recently agreed a settlement with AUSTRAC, the Australian financial crimes watchdog, to pay 450 million Australian dollars in penalties after having admitted to historical contraventions of Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006..

Source, agbrief.com, June 23, 2023.

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