The Federal Court today issued a decision on four cases involving the supermarket giants, following claims by a watchdog that there was tacit approval of unlawful practices in multiple stores.

Woolworths and Coles have compensated $330 million and $7 million respectively to managers who were not correctly paid their entitlements as salaried employees.

The judge found that her phone records were a more accurate way to demonstrate when she was working, while rejecting Coles’ claims that she did not miss unpaid meal breaks.

The woman, whose pay was docked for Coles-branded clothing, was also entitled to a clothing and laundry allowance.

But the judge used his 82,000-word judgment to criticise all sides, including the Fair Work Ombudsman, for making the case “unacceptably complex”.

The parties mainly wanted answers about how the general retail award applied but got bogged down presenting myriad case studies to the court.

The ombudsman’s case against Woolworths involved 32 managers at various sites in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane between June 2015 and September 2019.

The case against Coles involved 42 managers, some of whom were employed in multiple shops, from 2017 to 2020.

“While I would not wish to be definitive about handling similar litigation matters in the future, I am certain that they should not be managed in the manner of these four cases,” stated Justice Perram.

“This should not be done again.”

He will conduct a case management hearing in October to determine the next steps and compensation for the affected 27,700 employees. 

In a statement, Coles said it hoped Justice Perram’s judgment would provide “much-needed clarification” on the industry award and Fair Work Act. 

“We (have) introduced new processes and safeguards to ensure this won’t happen again,” a spokesperson said.

“We again apologise to our team members who were affected.”

Woolworths pointed to the remediation paid to affected employees and said further payments would need to be scrutinised carefully. 

“We are focused on resolving these underpayment issues,” chief executive Amanda Bardwell said. 

“We are committed to ensuring that our team members are paid correctly.”