Woolworths Group Limited

In September 2024, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission commenced Federal Court proceedings against Woolworths over alleged misleading discount-pricing claims. The ACCC alleges Woolworths increased prices on hundreds of products for short periods and subsequently placed those products in its "Prices Dropped" promotion at prices that were higher than, or equal to, the earlier regular price. The regulator alleges the conduct involved 266 products at different times between September 2021 and May 2023. The ACCC says tens of millions of affected products were sold. These proceedings remain unresolved, and the claims are allegations that have not yet resulted in final court findings. Source: Australian Competition and Consumer Commission https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-takes-woolworths-and-coles-to-court-over-alleged-misleading-prices-dropped-and-down-down-claims

The Fair Work Ombudsman commenced Federal Court proceedings against Woolworths Group Limited over alleged underpayments of salaried supermarket and Metro managers. Woolworths had previously disclosed that thousands of salaried employees had been underpaid. The regulator examined a sample of 70 managers and alleged they were underpaid more than A$1.17 million between March 2018 and March 2019, including overtime, weekend and public-holiday penalties and allowances. Approximately 19,000 salaried managers worked for the relevant Woolworths companies between 2015 and 2019. The proceedings have continued through the Federal Court, so the allegations should not be presented as a final penalty judgment. Source: Fair Work Ombudsman https://www.fairwork.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/2021-media-releases/june-2021/20210618-woolworths-litigation-media-release