The Finance Sector Union (FSU) is concerned about the failure of Commonwealth Bank (CBA) subsidiary Bankwest to fully inform staff about how their backpay was calculated.
Bankwest staff are complaining to the FSU that they have received backpay without any reference to how the sum paid to them was calculated.
Bankwest staff are part of a major backpay operation within the Commonwealth and its subsidiaries following serious problems with the CBA’s pay system. Backpay across the group is expected to top $15 million dollars.
FSU WA Local Executive Secretary Dianne Marshall said it was unfair for bank workers to receive no detail about their backpay and Bankwest needed to rectify the problem quickly or risk further anger among its staff.
“It’s bad enough to make serious errors in workers’ pay but the impact is being made worse by Bankwest trying to tell its staff to trust that the bank has now calculated the backpay correctly,” Ms Marshall said.
“All Bankwest staff need to be given a full accounting of how their backpay was calculated.”
“There is no way they should be forced to take Bankwest’s word that the latest calculations are correct.”
“Bankwest and the CBA have made such a mess of their payroll system that bank workers can’t be expected to trust that the latest calculations are right and they need to be able to make their own checks.”
In a letter to CBA head of “Group People Services,” Andrew Culleton the FSU said: “It is unsatisfactory that so many employees have found that the communication did not provide sufficient information for them to be satisfied as to the accuracy of the payment.”
Ms Marshall said the FSU had called for an urgent meeting with the CBA to determine how the bank planned to manage this problem and win back the trust of staff.
