On Tuesday, Wage Inspectorate Victoria confirmed it had filed the charges against the bank, alleging that it failed to pay former employees their long service leave entitlements when their employment ended, even after completing at least seven years with the company.
Under Victoria’s Long Service Leave Act, an employee who has at least seven years’ continuous employment with an employer is entitled to take long service leave and be paid any unused leave when their employment ends.
In a statement given to InvestorDaily, NAB group executive for people and culture, Susan Ferrier, said the company takes the matter of paying employees their entitlements “extremely seriously”.
“NAB takes this issue very seriously and we are carefully considering the allegations made by the Wage Inspectorate Victoria in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria proceeding,” Ms Ferrier said.
“Casual colleagues at NAB do not receive long service leave under the NAB Award/enterprise agreements. This has been the case for the last 20 years, and remains so to this day.
“While it is NAB’s view that casual colleagues are not covered by State/Territory long service leave legislation, we have continued to engage with the Wage Inspectorate Victoria about this issue.”
NAB is also seeking a declaration about how the relevant law operates to clarify the position.
The maximum penalty for each offence is 60 penalty units for each day during which the offences continue.
The matter has been listed for mention on 24 November.
