Woolworths : rsquo; Public Acknowledgement

Woolworths Group has recently entered in a voluntary proactive compliance agreement with the Fair Work Ombudsman to stamp out the exploitation of the vulnerable workforce such as trolley collection. As a result of this partnership, Woolworths is pleased to acknowledge the following commitments.
Woolworths acknowledges:
(a) that it is responsible for compliance with all aspects of the law across its business operations and welcomes the opportunity to work closely with the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) to ensure ongoing compliance with Commonwealth workplace laws in respect of contractors and subcontractors ('Contractors') of trolley collection services and their employees who conduct such services for and on behalf of Woolworths; and

(b) that it has an ethical and moral responsibility to require and ensure standards of conduct from all entities and individuals directly involved in the conduct of its enterprise that comply with the law and meet Australian community and social expectations to provide equal, fair and safe work opportunities for persons employed at its sites.

Woolworths acknowledges that, in the past, the governance arrangements in relation to the contracting model that it has used to engage trolley collection services have not fully prevented an environment where employees have been vulnerable to exploitation in the workplace, including by way of underpayment of wages.

Woolworths acknowledges that, in the past, it did not have adequate governance systems in place to monitor Contractor behaviour, and that this affected its ability to drive compliance through the Contractor chain and provided greater scope to primary contractors and subcontractors to exploit and underpay vulnerable workers.

Woolworths is committed to continue taking steps to help ensure the employment practices of Contractors comply with Commonwealth workplace laws by implementing changes to its management and operational model, including the introduction of additional governance measures such as the establishment of an internal compliance team tasked with monitoring and driving compliance in Woolworths' trolley collection procurement practices, including by conducting on−site compliance audits, managing Woolworths' external audit program and investigating and managing complaints.

Commitment to compliance with Commonwealth Workplace Laws

Woolworths will:

(a) require contractors to make and keep accurate employment records required under the Fair Work Act and Fair Work Regulations so that employees, Woolworths and the FWO are able to verify whether employees are receiving their full employee entitlements;

(b) ensure Woolworths has proper governance structures in place to monitor and regulate the employment practices and arrangements of its contractors;

(c) ensure, to the extent possible, that employees who have been underpaid since 1 July 2014 are paid their full employee entitlements due to them under Commonwealth Workplace Laws; and

(d) require Contractors to ensure that their current and future employees at each Woolworths site receive the full entitlements due to them under Commonwealth Workplace Laws.

Both parties have agreed to enter into this Deed as a proactive compliance partnership as a means to eradicate exploitation and underpayment in the trolley collection industry, and to further develop and implement sustainable self−monitoring and compliance arrangements.

Speak-Up Line

If you or anyone you know has been exploited in any way as a trolley collector on a Woolworths site, we encourage you to contact the Speak-Up line to make an enquiry, lodge a complaint or report potential non−compliance with Commonwealth Workplace Laws in relation to Trolley Collection Services, including the underpayment of wages.