Woolworths & Big W
Adero Law filed a class action against Woolworths and Big W in November 2019 on behalf of salaried supermarket employees. The class action claims that compensation and penalties should be paid to class members who were not paid enough for the hours they worked under the General Retail Industry Award
Latest Update
We attended a case management hearing on 17 November 2025 involving four cases, being the two class actions and the two regulatory proceedings filed by the FWO against Woolworths and Coles.
The next case management hearing is listed for 20 March 2026. Before then, the parties will be preparing declarations (statements of law and fact) for the court to order, which the parties can then either appeal or accept. There will also be some declarations that are not covered by the court’s original judgment, which will provide the court with the opportunity to clarify and make new orders.
We have also filed an application to extend the claim period for existing class members in the current class action, and we are investigating filing a further class action for people who are not current class members. The purpose of these actions is to enable us to recover any losses that salaried employees may have suffered over the last 11-12 years (November 2013 to October 2025), rather than the current 6-year claim period (November 2013 to November 2019).
Please register now to receive updates.
To check your registration status, update your details with us, or ask us any questions, please email woolworths@aderolaw.com.au.
Class Action Coverage
You may be a class member in the Woolworths class action if you worked:
- in a salaried position
- at a Woolworths, Metro, or BIG W supermarket
- between 30 November 2013 and 29 November 2019 for Woolworths employees and 25 June 2014 to 24 June 2020 for Woolworths South Australia
Many class members would have received a notice from the court by letter or email in March and November 2021. If you did not receive a notice from the court but believe you are a class member, please feel free to contact us.
We are also investigating a new class action against Woolworths for people who worked:
- in a salaried position
- at a Woolworths, Metro, or BIG W supermarket
- between 30 November 2019 and 31 October 2025
You can register to receive updates about the investigation.
About the Class Action
The class action was filed in November 2019 by Adero Law on behalf of Mr Baker, a night Replenishment Team Manager at Woolworths Camberwell in Victoria.
Mr Baker alleges that the salary Woolworths paid to him was insufficient to satisfy his legal entitlements. Mr Baker claims he was working well beyond his rostered hours to keep his department running to the standard expected by Woolworths, and he wasn’t always able to record his hours of work accurately in Kronos. Mr Baker knew that he was not the only salaried Woolworths employee who felt this way, which is why he started the class action.