A Fair Work Ombudsman investigation identified cleaning contractors at 90 per cent of Woolworths’ Tasmanian supermarket sites were not complying with workplace laws.
The Inquiry looked into contracting arrangements for cleaners at all 31 of Woolworths’ Tasmanian sites, as well as seven Coles sites (44 per cent of Coles’ Tasmanian sites) and 17 IGA sites (21 per cent) and uncovered breaches across 90 per cent of Woolworths’ Tasmanian sites, including cases of contractors paying cleaners as little as $7 per hour for training and $14 per hour for work.
The Inquiry’s focus on Woolworths sites was due to it being the only retailer of the three operating in Tasmania outsourcing its day-to-day cleaning services.
“Our Inquiry found deficiencies in Woolworths’ governance arrangements with regard to its procurement and oversight of cleaning contracts, resulting in serious exploitation occurring at multiple levels of its cleaning supply chain,” Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James said.
The FWO has so far launched two litigations as a result of the Inquiry and referred three to the Australian Taxation Office over cash payments and misleading or false tax declarations. Investigations into a number of businesses that supply cleaning services to Woolworths in Tasmania remain ongoing.
