Sydney Australia (Commonwealth Union)_Australia’s Reserve Bank owes money – USD 777,975 in fact, just over AUD 1 million to its employees both past and present. The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is due to pay this amount in back pay post an internal review which revealed that the bank had systematically underpaid more than one thousand of its current and former employees.
According to Reuters, the review identified that 1,173 staff were owed nearly USD 778,000 mostly due to complex remuneration arrangements. The majority of the funds were for leave entitlements which should have been settled when the employees left the bank, although that did not happen. The RBA is already contacting the employees to which it owes money and has begun making payments.
However, a union spokesperson mentioned that while the RBA should set an example for the country by instituting best practices and better governance, there is a need for an official apology. ‘The internal procedures employed by the RBA have undeniably shortchanged employees,’ she said.
The RBA admitted to owing its past and present employees backpay after the world’s biggest mining company, the Australian BHP Group stated it owed its workers AUD 280 million over a thirteen-year period. The company divulged there was underpayment for leave and other entitlements.
