BHP says underpaid nearly 29,000 staff for 13 years, owes $280 million

BHP Group had underpaid nearly 29,000 of its Australian employees for leave and other entitlements for over a period of 13 years. The miner estimated that it would cost $280 million.

The company on Thursday said it had incorrectly deducted leave on public holidays since 2010 for an average of six leave days in total per person for the vast majority of current and former workers, or about 28,500 people.

BHP President of Australia Geraldine Slattery issued an apology to affected workers. “This is not good enough and falls short of the standards we expect at BHP. We are working to rectify and remediate these issues, with interest, as quickly as possible.”

The estimated sum reflected its share of the costs that included pension and interest payments.

BHP reported itself to the country's labour regulator and contracted an independent company to review its payroll systems.

The company will provide an update with its full year results in August.

Workers at OZ Minerals were affected by a similar leave deduction issue before the copper miner was acquired by BHP in May 2023, said the world's biggest listed miner.

BHP said around 400 current and former employees at its Port Hedland iron ore operations are also entitled to additional allowances due to an error with the employment entity in their contract.

(With inputs from agencies)