BHP has committed to fixing issues it identified with the allowances and entitlements of almost 30,000 employees.
Following a preliminary review, the major miner found that a number of employees had leave incorrectly deducted on public holidays since 2010. The issue is said to have affected close to 28,500 employees, with the remediation cost estimated to be more than $430 million.
“We are sorry to all current and former employees impacted by these errors,” BHP president Australia Geraldine Slattery said.
“This is not good enough and falls short of the standards we expect at BHP.”
BHP, which engaged global assurance firm Protivit to conduct a review of payroll systems to ensure all remediation can be paid, self-reported the issue to Australia’s Fair Work Ombudsman.
BHP has said it will continue to investigate the extent of the issue, with an update to be provided in its full-year results in August.
“We are working to rectify and remediate these issues, with interest, as quickly as possible,” Slattery said.
The company also found that employees of OZ Minerals had been affected by a similar leave issue that occurred before OZ was acquired by BHP in May 2023.
Approximately 400 current and future employees at BHP’s Port Hedland operations will be entitled to additional allowances due to an error with the contracted employment entity.
BHP has committed to paying back the remediation of the leave, as well as the associated superannuation and interest payments it would have accumulated.