Australia's Woolworths hit with class action for alleged staff underpayments

Dec 15 (Reuters) - Grocery ⁠giant Woolworths ⁠said ‍on Monday that class action proceedings had been filed against it in Federal ‍Court, alleging potential underpayments to team members ​in South Australia.

The company said that the allegations brought ​by law firm Shine Lawyers, involving a Woolworths subsidiary, were based on a South Australian state law that was ​repealed some time ago, which deemed Sundays public holidays.

This follows a prior proceeding filed ​by another law firm, Dutton Law, regarding staff underpayments.

Woolworths said it ‌did not believe the legal action was market-sensitive and would defend the proceedings.

Shine ​Lawyers did not respond immediately ⁠to a Reuters request for comment.

The country's top grocer by market value ‌has already flagged A$180 million ($119.65 million) to A$330 million in post-tax charge after conducting a preliminary review ‌of the court's decision on historical staff underpayments.

Fair Work ‌Ombudsman (FWO), the country's industrial relations watchdog, brought proceedings against the two largest grocery chains, Woolworths and Coles, on ‍charges of underpaying their workers.

Shares of Woolworth slipped as much as 2.5% to ⁠A$28.83, their lowest level since late November, as of 2347 GMT.

($1 = 1.5044 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Diane Craft, Jamie Freed and Rashmi Aich)

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