Kmart
About the Kmart Class Action
Adero is filing proceedings in the Federal Court against Kmart Australia Pty Ltd (Kmart), alleging numerous breaches of the 2020 General Retail Industry Agreement (GRIA). This class action is being filed on behalf of eligible members and is seeking compensation for salaried managers who we allege were not paid in full in accordance with their entitlements.
The Kmart Class Action claim alleges multiple contraventions of the GRIA and the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) impacting an estimated 1,510-2,113 current and former salaried employees.
Group Members allege that Kmart engaged in practices and conduct including:
- Salaried employees were regularly directed to work during their meal breaks;
- Kmart was not compensating salaried employees for their entitled penalty rates consistent with the GRIA when working shifts that should incur penalties;
- Directing staff to take on the responsibilities of a more senior employee manager without being paid the higher duties entitlement under the GRIA;
- Directed staff to complete work from home including rostering, administration work and scheduling any staff availability issues without compensation;
- Directing staff to continue to work pre-shift and post-shift hours to complete their daily duties without compensation; and
- Cumulatively, we allege group members were exceeding 40 working hours per week without compensation.
You may be eligible to participate in the Kmart Class Action if you were:
- Employed by Kmart at any time between February 2020 and February 2026;
- Employed on a full-time basis;
- Employed on an annualised salary; and
- Employed in positions including but not limited to: overnight manager, department manager (including toy, apparel, home and clothing), operation managers, administration managers, customer service managers, assistant store managers and store managers.
Adero Law now has over 160 registered Group Members who worked for Kmart between 2020 and 2026, and estimates that the company owes Group Members significant amounts in respect of underpayments, interest and penalties.
We encourage both current and former staff to contact us to see if they are eligible to participate in the Class Action. If you have any questions, please contact [email protected].
Frequently Asked Questions
Adero is currently in the process of undertaking necessary due diligence investigations required to understand the viability of a potential class action.
At this stage, Adero asks you to register your interest should you be interested in participating in a potential class action.
Once a class action has commenced, Adero Law may send you a retainer for a no win no fee legal service. You are under no obligations until you agree to be bound by such a document.
Although circumstances may vary, the general structure of a class action proceeding run by Adero Law is as follows:
- A wrongdoing occurs that affects a group of people (claimants) in a similar way.
- Adero Law’s Claim Origination team investigate the wrongdoing by conducting due diligence investigations and liaising with a lead claimant.
- Pleadings and other Court documents are finalised and filed with the Court.
- Claimants have a chance to opt-out of the class action.
- Evidence is compiled and the claim is prepared for trial.
- If appropriate, mediation or settlement discussions take place between the parties.
- If a settlement agreement is not reached, the claim proceeds to trial.
- Once a settlement agreement has been reached, claimants are notified, and a is timetable put in place for any objections or submissions to be made ahead of a hearing.
- A settlement hearing occurs.
- If the settlement is approved, a distribution scheme will be implemented as approved by the Court.
Once a class action has commenced, Adero Law may send you a retainer for a no win no fee legal service that is relevant to your individual claim. This document will contain any terms relevant to the payment of legal fees under a no win no fee contract, and in respect to the ongoing management of the class action.
No. The Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 340 prevents employers from treating you differently for exercising your workplace rights. It is unlawful to punish an employee in any way for joining a class action. If you believe this has happened to you, contact us at Adero Law and we will promptly investigate such a complaint.
Adero will not provide your details to Wesfarmers Limited or any third party without your consent. Adero adheres to Australian privacy principles and will store its data in its systems and will not use that material for any unrelated purpose or disclose it to any third-party. That information we procure is also subject to legal professional rules that Adero Law adheres to, under the relevant ACT rules.